Witchblade: Blood of a demon, Soul of a hero
by D-FireX
Summary: After the Akatsuki manage to capture seven of the tailed beasts Tsunade decides to send Naruto to live in a remote village in a country called Japan where an ancient weapon of great power is about to awaken. Now up for adoption.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all rights belong solely to their respective owners.

Prologue:

On a warm spring day in Japan, two travelers were walking down a long road lined with trees on either side. Their destination was a small secluded temple that was located here in a small and even more secluded village.

One of the two travelers was a boy with blond spiky hair who looked to be about 15 years old. He was wearing a pair of black slacks with a dress shirt and black shoes. His most distinguishing features were his sky blue eyes and the three scars running along each side of his cheeks that looked almost like whiskers. The other traveler was an older man who looked to be in his early fifties with long white hair that seemed to stick out in all directions. He was wearing a black suit with a tie. Both of them were walking in silence until the younger one finally decided to speak up.

"Hey Ero-Sennin, are we there yet?" asked Naruto.

"For the hundredth time already gaki, no we're not there yet and quit calling me Ero-Sennin! A mere kid like you should address me with more respect than that!" Jiraiya went on with his rant for a while before going into one of his so called "dramatic poses" not that Naruto paid him any mind.

"Yeah sure whatever," Naruto grumbled as he continued walking. Absent mindedly he reached up to adjust his headband only to remember it wasn't there anymore. Just before they arrived in Japan, Jiraiya made him remove it and change into this uncomfortable outfit he was now wearing so that he wouldn't stand out as much. Sparing a glance towards his sensei for a second, Naruto found he still couldn't get used to seeing Jiraiya wear a suit like that.

"Listen kid, when we get there we'll be meeting an old acquaintance of mine so I want you to be on your best behavior," Jiraiya lectured. "That includes not revealing anything about where we're really from. You've got your background story memorized right?"

Naruto sighed, "Yeah I've it all down I'm from Okinawa and my family is on a business trip overseas happy?"

Jiraiya nodded with approval. "Don't forget, no one here knows about the elemental countries and as long as we're here, we can't do anything that might reveal our origin. That means no jutsu's got it?"

Naruto grumbled but nodded his head. He knew the reason why Jiraiya was being so cautious.

For as long as anyone in the elemental countries could remember, there had been a powerful genjutsu cast over the entire continent, keeping it hidden away from the outside world. The genjutsu only affected people who didn't possess any chakra and according to Jiraiya, no one outside of the elemental countries had any chakra or even the chakra coils needed to mold it for that matter. The genjutsu was designed to make the whole continent invisible to anyone who was affected by it so that it couldn't be detected or sensed in any way. Also if anyone got too close, the genjutsu would start to affect their sense of direction, causing ships to sail around the continent without even realizing it.

"Hey Ero-Sennin, how many times have you been to this place anyways?" asked Naruto.

"Several times actually," Jiraiya casually replied. "I've been all over the world during my travels and this was one of my favorite places to visit."

"Hmmm."

A few minutes later the steps leading to the temple appeared. At this point Naruto came to a stop causing Jiraiya to turn around. "What's wrong kid?" he asked with concern.

"Do I really have to do this? I just want to go home, back to Konoha. I don't want to spend the next couple of years here in a country I've never even heard of," Naruto complained. Jiraiya could see how upset and depressed Naruto was over this and he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt though he quickly strengthened his resolve.

"Listen Naruto, we've been over this before it's a direct order from the hokage herself."

"But what about Sasuke?" Naruto protested, "I promised Sakura I'd bring him home."

"I know you did, but I'm sure everyone in the village will do everything they can to bring him home in your absence. But more importantly we need to worry about you right now. The Akatsuki made their move sooner than anyone thought they would. Thanks to that they've already captured seven of the tailed beasts and if my sources were right, they're already tracking down the eight tailed host's location. We should consider ourselves lucky we found out in time before we ended up running into them ourselves."

"But isn't that what you've been training me for? Aren't I ready to take them on yet?" Naruto pressed on.

Jiraiya sighed and walked over to Naruto before placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry kid but you're just not ready yet. You've become a lot stronger in the last two and a half years to be sure but you're still not ready to face someone from Akatsuki. Right now I need to collect as much intelligence as I can on their movements and I can't do that while you're with me. If we take you back to Konoha, we can't guarantee your safety there either. After all they were even able to capture the kazekage even in the safety of his own village with all its support."

Naruto clenched his teeth and squeezed his hands into fists at the mention of Gaara. The news of the fellow jinchuriki's death had come as a painful shock to him.

Seeing his reaction, Jiraiya regretted bringing that up. "I'm sorry kid I shouldn't have brought that up."

"It's not your fault," muttered Naruto. The two stood there for a moment in an uncomfortable silence.

"You still have that card I gave you right?" Jiraiya asked, shaking him out of his thoughts. Naruto reached into his pocket and pulled out his frog shaped wallet. From it, he pulled out a plastic card.

"There should be enough money on that account to hold you over. But just in case, you'll also be receiving a check every other month. Oh and be sure to put that piece of paper I gave you in a safe place. It's a list of contacts I have here in Japan in case you need to get in touch with us."

Naruto nodded, he had already heard all of this before. After arriving in Japan, Jiraiya spent two weeks with him going over everything he would need to know to blend in with the Japanese society.

When they finally reached the front door of the temple, Jiraiya knocked lightly on the door and a minute later it was opened by a young woman wearing a red robe with a white robe over it. The first thing Naruto noticed about her was that her head was completely shaven. Knowing that it would be rude to stare, he quickly forced himself to look away at her face instead.

Jiraiya was starring too but where he was staring was more at chest level. At the same time he was being careful so as to make sure the woman didn't notice. Inwardly Naruto glared, _Perverted Sannin,_ he thought.

"We've been expecting you Jiraiya-san, it's been a while since you last came by for a visit," said the young woman in a soft and gentle voice.

"Sorry about that, I've been so busy traveling these days it gets hard to keep track of the time," said Jiraiya with a sheepish grin. "Still it's good to be back, Sister Seishuu." At this point, Jiraiya turned to Naruto. "This is Uzumaki Naruto; he's the son of a close friend of mine. He'll living in the village for now on at least while he attends high school."

"Oh? But isn't that rather out of his way? I know it takes Takeru almost an hour to get to high school by bus and she's attending one of the closest one's nearby."

"Well his family owns their own business and they have a lot of clients in other parts of the world so they're constantly overseas. They thought it would be best if Naruto were to live in a more stable environment while attending high school so I recommended this place to them. I remembered how quiet and peaceful it was out here so I knew it would be a good experience for him."

"It's alright ma'am I don't mind the long commute and this does seem likely a lovely village." Naruto added.

"Well if it's alright with you then I welcome you to our village," said Sister Seishuu. Moving away from the door, she motioned for them to come inside. "Please feel free to come in, Sister Senshuu-ni has been looking forward to seeing you."

Stepping into the main room , Naruto saw an older woman scolding a girl about his age.

"Takeru, how many times do I have to keep telling you not to go into the storehouse?" said the older woman.

"Grandma all you ever tell me is to not go in there. Why? What is that thing in there anyways?" asked Takeru.

"That's none of your concern child just do as I say and stay away from there from now on. If you keep on pulling such reckless and rebellious stunts, Buddha will surely punish you!"

Takeru sighed. "Yes grandma, I'm sorry for going into the storeroom. I'll stay away from it from now on."

"Sorry, did I come at a bad time?" Jiraiya called out.

Both the older woman and the girl turned to the sound of his voice. "Jiraiya welcome!" said the older woman as she came over to where Jiraiya was standing. "Welcome back Jiraiya-san," Takeru added as she got up to join her grandmother.

"Sister Senshuu-ni it's great to see you again," said Jiraiya. Turning to Takeru, he gave her a quick look over. "My you're growing into quite a beautiful young lady Takeru," he commented with a grin.

"Why who is your young friend here?" the older woman asked, noticing Naruto for the first time.

"He's the son of a couple of friends of mine. They've been overseas on business trips a lot recently and so they thought it would be best that he remain here to finish his schooling. I recommended this village to them so for now he'll be attending the same high school as Takeru."

"Oh how wonderful!"

Remembering what Jiraiya told him about being on his best behavior, Naruto politely introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you Sister Senshuu-ni my name's Uzumaki Naruto."

"It's nice to meet you dear." Sister Senshuu turned to her granddaughter beside her. This is my granddaughter Takeru; she's going to the same high school you'll be attending."

"Hello Uzumaki-san," said Takeru.

"Hi Takeru-chan." Naruto cheerfully replied. _She's kind of cute,_ he thought to himself.

At that moment Sister Seishuu walked in to see how everyone was doing. "Shall I get the tea ready venerable Senshuu-ni?"

"Yes please go right ahead," the older woman replied. "Would you care to join us?" she asked Jiraiya.

"Of course, I'd be happy to," he replied.

"Takeru dear, could you give Uzumaki-kun a tour?"

"Yes grandmother," said Takeru. "Follow me," she said to Naruto before taking off with Naruto following closely behind.

The two adults watched as the two of them leave the room. _Well I'll be I think the kid may have made a new friend already, _Jiraiya thought with a smile.

____________________

Later that afternoon Naruto and Jiraiya said their goodbyes before leaving to get to the apartment Naruto would be staying at. Although arrangements had been made to have the place already furnished, he still would need to unpack his clothes and personal belongings. As they said their goodbyes he and Takeru agreed to meet each other at the bus stop the next day so that she could show him around at school. As luck would have it they would both be in the same home room.

"So what did you think of them kid?" Jiraiya asked while they were walking.

"They seemed like pretty nice people," Naruto admitted.

Jiraiya cracked a perverted grin. "And what did you think of Miss Takeru? Nice body huh?"

Naruto blushed as he glared at his sensei. "Don't even go there Ero-Sennin, I'm not like you! Besides I saw how you were staring at Sister Seishuu!"

Now it was Jiraiya's turn to glare. "And just what's wrong with that? I'll have you know a great artist like me appreciates all forms of art and beauty!"

Naruto snorted, "Great artist yeah right. Admit it; you were just looking for cheap thrills!"

Jiraiya growled, "Gaki!"

"Pervert!"

____________________

At the apartment, Naruto decided to head to bed early after unpacking all his belongings. When he got up the next morning, he wasn't surprised to see that Jiraiya had already left although he had left a note for Naruto apologizing for having to leave so early. After getting ready, Naruto left for school. Fortunately the apartment he was living in wasn't very far from the same bus stop Takeru waited at.

"There he is, hey Naruto!" Takeru called out when she saw him. Standing next to her was a young man with wooden sword wrapped up and slung over his shoulder.

"Takeru's told me about you," said the young man as he introduced himself. "I'm Minamoto Kou."

"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you Kou," said Naruto. It was then that he noticed the sword. "Say um what's with the sword?"

"Hm this? Oh I'm taking Kendo lessons and I usually have my class right before school so sometimes I just take it with me. It's not a problem as long as I keep it in my locker."

"Oh kendo." Naruto had a vague idea about what Kendo was about.

"So are you into any martial arts Naruto?" asked Kou. Although it was hard to tell for sure through the school uniform, Kou could have sworn Naruto seemed to have an athletic body and his posture as well as the way he moved suggested that he had some sort of experience in some form of martial arts.

"Well yeah I've dabbled in it here and there," Naruto admitted with a grin. _I can't reveal too much,_ he reminded himself.

At that moment the bus finally pulled up. On the way to school, the three students chatted with each other occasionally laughing at a comment one of them made.

Later, standing in front of the high school, Naruto looked up in awe at the size of the building. Back in Konoha he had thought the academy was huge it couldn't even begin to compare to the size of this school. There were hundreds of students everywhere chatting with friends while heading to their classes.

"Hurry up or we'll be late!" Takeru called out to him. Naruto ran to catch up with her. _Maybe I will like it here after all_.

**Author's Notes:** Finally! At long last I've got up my prologue. Thank you to all of you who've been patiently waiting. To be honest I ended up going back and completely re-writing this prologue twice before I was finally satisfied with it. Again I apologize for putting the other story on hiatus but I just can't seem to find how to take it in the direction I want however I haven't given up on it yet.

To answer one person's question, I haven't decided on pairings yet. I'm willing to listen to any suggestions people have provided they can at least provide me with a reason why they think it will work. Reasons other than things like "She's my favorite character" or "I think they look cute together."

If anyone else has any questions or comments and/or if you simply notice any grammar errors feel free to let me know in a review.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all rights belong solely to their respective owners.

Chapter 1:

It was a quiet day in Konoha as an uneasy sense of peacefulness hung over the village. Recent reports had come in some of which suggested that the Akatsuki might be planning to attack the village soon. As a result there was a tension hidden behind everyone's smile as they tried to go about their day without worrying over a possible looming threat.

In the hokage tower, Tsunade was going through a small mountain of paper work concerning the various missions that had been completely recently as well as reports on the Akatsuki. _I really need a drink_ she thought gloomily to herself as she stamped yet another paper for the eight hundredth time or so that day. In truth she had lost count after the first few hundred. Just then a knock came at her door giving her a much needed if only temporary reprieve from her work.

"Come in,"

When the door opened, she wasn't surprised to see who it was. "How's everything going Tsunade?" asked her old teammate, Jiraiya.

Tsunade sighed, "Not well, I'll be at this all night at this rate. Anyways what is it you need?"

Jiraiya pulled out a hand written report and laid it on her desk. "Just bringing you my latest findings on Akatsuki." Tsunade immediately picked up and started reading through the report.

"Ever since the eight tailed host managed to escape, they started focusing their efforts more on finding Naruto first. On the bright side it's been harder for them to move around lately now that almost every country is out looking for them."

Tsunade nodded, "Go on."

As I'm sure you already know they've also lost three members in the past several months including Sasori of the red sand who was killed by Sakura, Temari and Kankuro as well as Deidera and Itachi who were both killed by Sasuke. Of course if we take Kakashi's report into account then they've replaced at least one of them already."

Tsunade frowned. She had heard about Kakashi's encounter with the newest member of Akatsuki. That member hadn't been among the names that were given to them by Kabuto during Ibiki's interrogation. They had managed to locate and capture Orochimaru's right-hand man shortly after Orochimaru's death. Unfortunately that was one of the only things they had managed to get out of him before he committed suicide using an advanced medical jutsu to stop his heart in such a way that even Tsunade wasn't able to resuscitate him in time.

"Has there been any word on Sasuke's whereabouts?" Tsunade asked.

"No unfortunately. While we do know he engaged and managed to kill Itachi he vanished without a trace after that," said Jiraiya with a grimace. He remembered the look of disappointment on Sakura and Kakashi's faces after they returned from their failed mission to find and capture Sasuke.

"Where has he been hiding all this time? It's already been a couple of months since Itachi's death," Tsunade murmured to herself. "He's had his revenge what more could he be after?"

"It's possible that he might have been captured by Akatsuki especially given that he's killed two of their members."

"Don't even go there," said Tsunade with a sharp glare. She refused to accept the idea that something had happened to Sasuke. If that were the case she knew how devastated Naruto would be.

"One thing worries me though," said Jiraiya with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"What's that?"

"Kakashi said that Tobi possessed the Sharingan. But the only Uchiha to have survived that massacre were Sasuke and Itachi and the only Uchiha to have ever been reported a missing nin prior to that was Uchiha Madara."

"Madara's been dead for decades, my grandfather saw to that personally. Besides even if he had somehow survived that fight he would have to be over a hundred years old by now," Tsunade reminded him.

"I guess you're right, but it still keeps nagging me for some reason."

Tsunade turned in her chair to gaze out the window at the village below her. "How's Naruto doing?" she asked.

"He seems to have adapted quite well to life in the outside world. In his last letter he mentioned he'd be starting his second year soon."

Tsunade smiled. "That's good to hear."

____________________

"Takeru, I've told you over and over not to go near that room and yet you keep doing so in spite of this. Why can't you just respect my wishes child?" asked Sister Senshuu.

Stopping in the middle of cleaning the floor, Takeru sat up and looked her grandmother straight in the eye. "I'm sorry. But I want the truth grandma. What is that thing in there and why can't I go near it? All you ever tell me is that I can't go near it and I just…"

"That's enough child!" Sister Senshuu interrupted. "Instead of worrying about things like that you should be focusing more on your sutra chanting. Need I remind you that it's disrespectful to Buddha to chant your sutras halfheartedly? You will surely receive divine punishment!"

"Venerable Senshuu-ni" said Sister Seishuu who up until now had been watching this argument play out. "Miss Takeru's sutra chanting is quite fine." Turning to Takeru she said, "Miss Takeru isn't it time for you to be getting ready for school?"

"Oh that's right. Thank you Sister Seishuu," said Takeru as she got up to leave the room. Stopping at the doorway she turned back and smiled. "Grandma I really am sorry."

"Goodbye child," said Sister Senshuu as she smiled and waved.

"Venerable Senshuu-ni," said Sister Senshuu after Takeru left. "Is that thing in the storehouse really that dangerous for Miss Takeru?"

Sister Senshuu sighed and shook her head. "I only wish I knew. If I did than perhaps I could be stricter with her."

____________________

Panting, Naruto struggled to get to his feet. "Damn I almost had it that time, if only I could get it to hold its form long enough after I add wind chakra," he muttered as he climbed out of the small crater he had made. All around him there were other craters as well.

Currently he was training in a secluded area in the forests that surrounded the village which stretched on for kilometers. Luckily he had been allowed to take a number of scrolls for training purposes as well as scrolls containing weapons and supplies sealed in them. He had also been lucky to have found this secluded area that was far enough away from the village that no one would disturb him.

Wiping the dust off the orange tee-shirt and black shorts he was wearing, he reached over and grabbed a nearby water bottle before drinking down the remaining contents. He took a look at his watch to see that he still had time to make it back to his apartment to shower and change before leaving for the bus stop.

Gathering up his supplies, he resealed everything inside scrolls before putting them in his back pack and slinging it over his shoulder. He went through a series of hand signs before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

____________________

Takeru stood lost in thought as she waited for the bus. That morning she had awoken abruptly from a bizarre and disturbing dream. In it she was still a little girl running down one of the passage ways in the temple before coming to a stop outside a certain door. Opening it slowly, she first peeked into the room.

It was an old storehouse with a thick layer of dust covering everything in the room. Standing in the center of the room like one big display was a large table with a glass case covered with paper seals on top. Inside the case was some kind of gauntlet that looked almost like the hand of a demon. Green, razor sharp tentacles were reaching out from the gauntlet and were slowly writhing and squirming about. Fixed in the center of the back of the hand was a red jewel that suddenly began to glow.

Entranced by the strange object, she had opened the door the rest of the way and staggered into the room, moving as if in a trance. The jewel in the center of the gauntlet suddenly seemed to open up and a single eye stared out directly at her. Suddenly she was no longer a small child and as she reached out for the object, the tentacles wrapped around it began to move about wildly within the tight confines of the case until the case cracked and shattered. At that moment the tentacles wrapped around her body and as she reached down a sword began to slide out of her abdomen leaving a trail of blood behind. Grabbing a hold of it, she pulled it out in one swift motion sending blood flying everywhere. Her eyes held a look of sheer pleasure as she let out a loud moan.

It was at that moment that she had awoken from her dream shivering in cold sweat.

_That girl in my dream something about her keeps calling out to me. I think I know why too. That girl in my dream… is me._ Takeru shuddered as she tried to forget the disturbing images.

"Ouch!" she cried out, all of the sudden. Looking up, she saw Kou standing next to her holding a wrapped up bokken.

"You were all spaced out," he said with a grin.

"Kou," she growled. "What about morning practice? Don't tell me you skipped again."

"I missed the bus and they only came once every hour you know," he said with a sigh.

"Hey guys! How's it going?" said Naruto as he came running towards them.

"Kou here missed his practice again," said Takeru while pointing at the guilty party in question.

"Hey it wasn't like it was on purpose. I overslept okay?" Kou complained.

"Whatever you say Kou," Takeru replied, not even bothering to look back in his direction.

"No honest I did!"

At that moment the bus pulled up to a stop allowing all three to climb aboard.

"You know Kou your father said if you keep practicing you could even be good enough for tournaments. If you make a real effort even the Buddha won't forsake you," said Takeru after they were all seated.

"Now you're started to sound like granny," Kou replied with a grin to which Naruto started chuckling.

"G-granny?" said a horrified Takeru.

"Hey what's up with the bill board?" asked Naruto while pointing out the window.

Kou and Takeru looked out the window as well to see they were passing by a couple of men working on painting a bill board. "Oh they're just getting ready for another rehash of the peach boy story," Kou explained with a smirk.

"Peach boy story? I've never heard it."

"It's about a boy who was born from a peach and grew up to slay demons. It's a dumb story really."

"Hey are you sure that's something the son of the demon hunters should say?" asked Takeru.

"Eh? Demon hunters for real?" asked Naruto with a wide eyed expression.

Takeru smiled, "That's right. Kou comes from a long line of demon hunters. According to legend our village was once overrun by ravenous man-eating demons. Then Kou's ancestors appeared and battled the demons until they managed to slay every last one of them. Then they laid the demon's remains to rest in a big mound somewhere out in the forest near the village."

"Awesome! Why didn't you tell me about that Kou?"

Kou simply snorted, "Get real, demons in this day and age?"

Naruto absent mindedly held a hand over his stomach. _They might be more real than you would think not that you'd ever believe me._ He thought.

"But I heard your father was even planning to donate the demon hunter's sword for this event. He was really excited about it. Not that he'd ever allow you to have it," said Takeru

"Big deal like I'd want the thing anyways," Kou replied.

At that moment the bus came to a stop at a light and a small group of men wearing dark blue robes with straw hats marched by in single file. Each of them held a drum in one hand and a drum stick in the other. They were all slowly drumming to the same rhythm none of them missing a single beat.

"Are those pilgrims?" Kou asked as they watched the drummers go by.

"But don't pilgrims usually wear white? It looks like they're headed for the village," said Takeru.

Naruto frowned as he watched the pilgrims go on their way. Something about those men seemed to be a bit off though he couldn't figure out exactly what. Unfortunately there was nothing he could do about it at the moment so he decided to let it slide.

____________________

"Hey are you free on Sunday Takeru?" Kou asked as he closed his locker.

Takeru was about to reply when someone suddenly ran up and tackled her from behind.

"Takeru-chan good morning!" said a girl with red hair done in pig tails. She was wearing the same girl's uniform as Takeru with black stockings that came most of the way up her legs. The girl was also completely oblivious to the fact that the short skirt she was wearing had flown up giving everyone a good view of her panties.

"G-good morning Ayaka," Takeru managed to get out despite the tight hug the girl had her trapped in.

"Oh hi Kou-kun let's go out this Sunday" said Ayaka when she finally noticed him and released Takeru.

"No thanks," Kou grumbled, a light blush still on his face.

Not being discouraged in the least, Ayaka then turned to Naruto who stood nearby with a similar blush. "Well what about you then Naruto-kun?"

Naruto tensed up. "Huh? Me? Umm sorry but I'll have to pass this time Ayaka-chan. Besides don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Yep and we spent all morning having sex! Can't you see how I'm glowing?" she proudly boasted with a smile.

Kou sighed, "Whatever if that's how you want to live your life."

"Oh I just love that aloof attitude of yours!"

Takeru grabbed onto Ayaka's shoulders turning her around so they were face to face. "Ayaka what are you thinking asking another boy out when you already have a boyfriend? And more importantly what about the… sex?! How can you be so open about something like that?!"

"Ah you're so uptight Takeru. It's because you're still a virgin," said Ayaka with a frown.

"What?! That has nothing to do with…"

"You'd think living in a nunnery would make the perfect setting for a seduction," Ayaka continued oblivious to what Takeru was trying to say. "You should just sleep with Kou-kun and get it over with you know?"

"No way! Like that's going to happen!"

"Are you sure? It feels sooo good," said Ayaka with a playful smile. "Or maybe you'd prefer to sleep with Naruto-kun he's real cute. I kind of jealous you know you have two boys following you around everywhere. Maybe you could share one of them every once in a while?"

At this point Takeru's jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor while Naruto and Kou both had faces that could pass for a tomato.

"Oh I know! If you're really feeling nervous you can invite me over sometime and we can have a nice big foursome together." Pulling up close to Takeru Ayaka whispered, "We'll have **lots** of fun. There are so **many** different things I could show you."

At this point Takeru had had enough. Jerking out of Ayaka's grasp she shouted, "Ayaka! You've got to stop this or… or… Buddha will surely punish you!"

"There you go again sounding like your grandma Takeru-chan and in front of everyone too," Ayaka teased.

At that moment all activity in the hallway had stopped as everyone paused to stare at the two girls. Takeru groaned. _Why me?_

____________________

Back in the village, the pilgrims finally came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the temple where Takeru lived. Sitting on the bottom step was an older man with graying hair wearing a black suit. Appearance wise he appeared to be an ordinary though well dressed older gentlemen but something about his eyes seemed inhuman and cruel.

"It's up there," he said pointing up towards the temple.

Without saying anything the pilgrims starting climbing the stairs still banging their drums.

Inside the temple Sister Senshuu was busy writing while Sister Seishuu was pouring some tea for the two of them. Both women stopped what they were doing as they heard the approaching sound of drums.

"That sounds like drums of some kind," said Sister Seishuu.

____________________

In class, the teacher continued on with his lecture about the feudal era while the students were either listening intently or tuning the teacher out to goof off or sleep at their desks.

Takeru was trying to concentrate on what the teacher was saying while trying to ignore an uneasy feeling she had. _Why am I feeling so nervous?_ She thought. All of the sudden a feeling of absolute terror overtook her. Images of the dream she had started flashing through her mind as she felt a terrible ach in her stomach. Looking down she saw to her horror a long katana had emerged from her stomach in a gush of blood.

_There was something fishy about those pilgrims and it wasn't just the way they dressed._ Naruto thought to himself. For some reason, those pilgrims had left him with a bad feeling. On top of that as they passed by he could have sworn he felt a sort of strange sensation that was different from chakra but still something out of the ordinary. _It looked like they were headed for the village too. I just hope everyone back there is alright._ At that moment he was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of Takeru's scream.

Instantly the teacher stopped in his lecture and everyone looked in Takeru's direction. Standing up abruptly, Takeru quickly bowed. "I'm sorry um. My stomach doesn't feel too good so I have to go," she said before bolting out of the room.

Immediately Kou and Naruto were out of their seats following her. "I'll walk her home," they both said before leaving the room ignoring to the instructor who was hollering after them.

"Go for it Takeru-chan! Good luck!" Ayaka whispered with stars in her eyes.

____________________

Outside the school, Takeru was running down the sidewalk when a motor cycle came up from behind and stopped beside her. The driver opened up the visor of his helmet revealing it to be Kou.

"A senior let me borrow his bike, get on."

"Thanks Kou. I've got to get back home quickly. Something awful has happened I know it," said Takeru as she got on behind him.

"You got it." With that he took off.

As they were leaving something suddenly occurred to Takeru. "Wait what about Naruto?! Wasn't he following you?"

"He said he'd catch up. Don't worry."

____________________

_I said I'd catch up with him but I don't know how I'm going to manage it,_ Naruto thought as he continued to look around to see if there were any other parked vehicles that he recognized. Unfortunately none of the other seniors he had asked so far were willing to let him borrow theirs and the senior Kou had asked only had the motorcycle. _Damn it something's going on and here I am stuck trying to get a pair of wheels!_

After wasting almost ten minutes searching Naruto finally gave up. He looked around to make sure no one was watching before he made his way to a small cluster of trees in the far corner of the track field. Taking one last look to make sure he was alone, Naruto let out a deep breath and did the necessary hand signs for the Shunshin no jutsu. His only thought as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves was that he hoped he wouldn't be too late if anything bad had happened.

____________________

As they drove up to the temple, Takeru jumped off and immediately ran up the stairs.

"Takeru wait!" Kou shouted. After finding a spot to park the motorcycle he quickly chased after her.

As the two of them ran up the stairs the gray haired man from before appeared at the foot of the stairs and watched as they ran towards the temple. "Two kids are coming your way. If they cause any trouble kill them," he seemed to be saying to someone even though there was no one in sight.

Just then, the man heard someone else approaching. Quickly stepping out of sight, he watched from behind a tree as a blond haired kid ran up the stairs after the other two. "Check that one more is approaching. Kill him as well if he gets in the way," he said with a smile.

"Grandma!" Takeru shouted as she slammed open the front door. Only to come to a halt. Everything inside the temple had been damaged or destroyed. Furniture lay overturned and in pieces while religious artifacts had been smashed and were tossed all over the floor. It looked as though someone had ransacked the place looking for something.

Takeru stood there transfixed at the scene that lay before here. "Takeru this is…" Kou started to say.

"It can't be," Takeru whispered. Tears were starting to slide down her cheeks. "Grandma," she mumbled as she slid to her knees on the floor.

"Takeru it's going to be okay," said Kou as he put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Taking charge of the situation he got up to go back outside. "I'll go look for her outside! You wait here."

Takeru sat there on the floor numbly for a few moments before a single though pushed its way through the sea of emotions she was feeling. _The storehouse,_ she thought.

____________________

Outside Kou was about to run around to the back of the temple when he ran into Naruto. "Where's Takeru? Is there anything wrong?" Naruto immediately asked.

"Takeru's inside, someone's wrecked the place and we're trying to find where her grandmother and Sister Seishuu might have gone," said Kou.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"I'm going to go look around the back can you wait inside with Takeru?" Kou asked.

Naruto nodded. "Sure no problem"

Both boys then took off.

____________________

Inside the temple, Takeru was running as fast as she could. Reaching the storehouse, she confirmed her worse fears. The storehouse door lay in pieces near the door way. "Grandma!" she cried racing into the room.

In the main room of the temple, Naruto was frantically searching for Takeru. "Takeru! Where are you?" he shouted. Just then Kou came running in.

"Where's Takeru?" he asked.

Naruto shook his head, "I don't know she wasn't here when I got here."

Back in the storehouse, Takeru stood paralyzed in fear. Four hulking green demons were in the room. They had glowing yellow eyes and a single horn coming out of their forehead. They also had razor sharp teeth with huge mandibles coming out of the sides of their mouths. One of them hand Sister Senshuu clenched in its oversized hand by the neck. The older woman was covered in bruises with blood running out of her mouth and nose.

Sister Seishuu was in even worse shape, lying motionless on the floor in a pool of her own blood.

"Takeru… run," Sister Senshuu wheezed.

"G-Grandma? Sister Seishuu? What is this?" Takeru mumbled still too frightened to move.

"**As expected the Witchblade is surrounded by women,**" said the demon that was holding Sister Senshuu. The one closest to Takeru grabbed her and slammed her up against the wall holding her in a tight choke hold. Meanwhile the one holding Sister Senshuu dropped her carelessly onto the floor.

_Witchblade? What's going on?_ Takeru thought as she frantically tried freeing herself from the demon's grip to no avail. "**How I shall enjoy making you cry,**" said the demon as it slowly began leaning closer its mouth wide open revealing all of its sharp teeth.

Takeru panicked, sweat and tears running down her face as she struggled to free herself. _N-no please someone help!_

As if in response to her silent plea, the stone imbedded in the center of the gauntlet began to pulsate and glow. Suddenly green tentacles began to emerge from the gauntlet. They quickly expanded until they reach the limit within the confines of the case. Within seconds the case cracked and shattered as the tentacles reached out and began wrapping themselves all over Takeru's body. A flash of light began to fill the room followed by the sound of a blade slashing through something.

____________________

In the main room Kou winced as he suddenly felt a sharp pain go through his bandaged left hand. At the same time Naruto felt an odd sensation course through his body. _What is this? It almost feels like…_ at that moment an image of the Kyubi popped into his mind.

"The storehouse hurry!" Kou shouted.

Both boys didn't even pay any attention to the remains of the door on the floor as they ran into the storehouse. Once inside though, they both simply stopped and stared in shock and awe at what they saw.

Sister Seishuu laid in a bloody heap one the floor while Sister Senshuu lay nearby. Also four demons were in the room, one of them groaning in pain as it held the bloody stump of what had once been its right arm. In the center of the room stood Takeru as she silently stared at the demons before her.

Her uniform had completely disappeared and in its place green metallic armor was wrapped around her arms, legs and shoulders. The armor wrapped around most of her left hand leaving the fingers exposed while the right hand was covered completely and ended in a large claw. The armor on her legs ended in high heels at her feet. The armor also weaved around the rest of her body covering the essentials while leaving little to the imagination. Her hair had grown into two long pony tails with scythe like blades at the end. Fresh blood was dripping from one of them.

"My body feels so hot. Like I'm burning inside," she moaned.

Naruto and Kou both gasped as she turned in their direction. Her eyes had gone from their usual brown to a deep blood red and were filled with desire and blood lust.

"I feel so hot and sweet!" she said with a hungry grin.

**Author's Note:** I was in a bit of a hurry to put this chapter up so please pardon me if there seems to be more grammar errors than usual. I do intend to go back later and correct any that I find. If you happen to notice any however, please let me know as it will make it easier for me to find them.

To answer one reviewer's question. This story is a crossover with the manga Witchblade Takeru and the prologue takes place about a year before the events in the manga while the first chapter takes place at the same time as the events in the manga. If you haven't read Witchblade Takeru already I would highly recommend it. You can find it at animeshippuuden .com (Ignore the extra space) under the manga section.


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all rights belong solely to their respective owners.

Chapter 2:

While one of the demons remained hunched over as it clutched the bloody stump of what was left of its right arm, the other demons shuffled around cautiously. They were well aware of what the Witchblade was capable of once it had bonded with a chosen wielder regardless of whether that wielder was human or not.

"Takeru? Is that really you?" Kou asked in a shaky voice.

Ignoring him for the moment, Takeru turned back to face the demons. "You said you were going to make me cry? Are you sure about that?" she said with a smirk.

At this point the Demons seemed to have regained their confidence. Rearing up to its full height one of them said "**We will… Nice and slow…**"

With that it rushed forward and swung down at her with one arm. Takeru deftly back flipped out of harm's way as the demon's hand tore open the ground and left a large hole. A second later blood began spraying out of its shoulder. The demon staggered and fell to its knees clutching its shoulder in pain.

Landing on her feet, Takeru clutched at her abdomen. "Unnnghhh" she grunted as the handle of a katana began to protrude from her skin. Grabbing onto it with her left hand she quickly pulled out a katana in a trail of blood. The wound it left behind instantly closed as though it had never been there.

"I want more!" she cried as she ran up to the demon still clutching its shoulder and slashed through its side all the way through the other shoulder, bisecting the demon completely. As the demon's body hit the ground, the two demons behind it growled before charging her intent on ripping her to pieces. Takeru grinned as she playfully dodged or fended off their attacks.

The demon now missing an arm had finally managed to get to its feet. Already the bleeding had stopped and the wound had closed. Not wanting to be left out, Naruto ran up and jumped over the demon's remaining arm as it swung at him before punching it square in the face only to find that it was like punching a wall of solid stone. Other than reeling back slightly, the demon was unharmed and with a grunt, it backhanded the boy into a nearby wall with enough force to leave an imprint in the wall.

"Naruto!" Kou shouted in alarm.

_Damn I knew I should have started carrying some of my weapons with me._ Naruto thought as he winced at the pain. _Guess I'll just have to make do for now._

Takeru was finally beginning to get bored of this new game. Ducking under one of the demons blows, she spun around with her blade slicing the demon in two. As the demon's blood showered down on her, she turned to the last one with a smile. "Looks like your next."

"Takeru behind you!" Naruto yelled.

Whipping around she saw the first demon she had attacked swinging a fist right at her. But before she could react, Naruto had jumped in the way and took the blow sending him into the ground with enough force to create a small crater. He coughed up a spray of blood and lay there motionlessly.

"Naruto." Kou gasped and even Takeru's eyes seemed to widen a little. All of the sudden Naruto's body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"**Huh?**" said the demon as it tried to figure out what was going on. All of the sudden it heard movement from behind and turned to see Naruto thrusting a blue spiraling orb into its stomach. The impact tore a huge hole through the demon's torso and sent it spiraling backwards past Takeru and into the remaining demon causing them to both hit the ground with a crash.

The demon let out one final groan before dying while the remaining one quickly pushed its fallen comrade off. But before it could even get back up, Takeru thrust her sword through its chest, piercing its heart. All the demon could do was gasp and gurgle as she pulled it out in a spray of blood before it pitched forward and hit the ground lifelessly.

Standing there amidst the blood and carnage Takeru raised her head and moaned. "Ohhh more. It's just not enough."

"Takeru, what's happened to you?" Kou asked fearfully. Never before had he felt so afraid and confused at once. Part of him wanted to run over there but his legs refused to budge and all he could do was stare.

_What the hell's going on? Are these things really demons?_ Naruto thought as he looked around in disgust at the violence and carnage. Suddenly Takeru's hand shot out and grabbed him by the neck before slamming him up against a wall. "Gaack! Takeru… Takeru what's wrong with you?!" He managed to get out.

Takeru was studying him closely for a few seconds before a delighted smile appeared on her face. "Your scent... It's so incredible and yet it's almost like…" she reached out with her claw and tore open the top part of his shirt and jacket, grazing the skin slightly in the process. "I'll just have a taste…" she said as she started leaning forward her mouth opening to reveal that her teeth had become sharper while her canines had grown into fangs.

"Takeru what are you?" Naruto started to say when she bit down on his shoulder puncturing the skin. Naruto gasped and struggled to try and push Takeru off of him. However despite being an ordinary civilian and not possessing any chakra, Takeru's strength seemed supernatural and to his dismay he found that he couldn't get her off.

At this point, Kou finally seemed to snap out of it and ran over to help Naruto by wrapping his arms under Takeru's while trying to pull her off of him. "Takeru stop it!"

At the sound of his voice Takeru seemed to snap out of her trance causing her to release Naruto. Naruto wasted no time in backing away in case she tried to attack him again his hand going up to feel where she had bitten him.

_What in the world is happening to me? What did I?_ It was then she noticed the coppery taste in her mouth. To her horror she realized what she was tasting was blood and one quick look at Naruto confirmed it was from a bite wound on his shoulder that still had blood oozing from it.

"Kou? I…" she tried to say something but the world around her was quickly turning black and instead she simply collapsed in his arms. The green armor quickly began to disappear as it receded into her right wrist taking on the form of a green bracelet with the red stone imbedded in the center. In the armor's place her school uniform had instantly reappeared looking the same as it had when she first entered the room.

Kou gently lowered Takeru to the ground and used a hand to brush a stray hair out of her face. "Oh Takeru."

"We've got to get them to a hospital quick." said Naruto. He had torn off a piece of his shirt and used it as a bandage to wrap around his shoulder. "Do they have a medic kit here do you know?"

"I'm not sure I think they do somewhere." Just then the smell of smoke started to filter into the room followed by the sound of something burning. Kou quickly glanced outside the room to see the main part of the temple on fire. The flames were already quickly spreading and would be on them in no time. "We've got to out of here! The temple's on fire!"

"What about these two? We can't leave them here!" said Naruto pointing at Sister Senshuu and Sister Seishuu who were both still unconscious.

"Can't we carry them both out?"

Naruto shook his head. "At the same time? With those injuries?"

"Then what are we going to do?" asked Kou. The fire would be reaching the section of the temple they were in any minute and the only exit left was the small door at the end of the hallway closer to where the fire was coming from.

Naruto sighed. "Guess there's no choice then." As kou watched, he did a hand sign before calling out _"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"_ In a cloud of smoke three identical clones of Naruto appeared. Two of them ran over and gently began to lift Sister Seishuu while Naruto and the remaining clone carefully lifted Sister Senshuu.

Kou couldn't believe his eyes. "Naruto, how did you?"

"There's no time!" Naruto interrupted. "We have to get out of here. I'll explain later so just hurry!"

Kou nodded and picked up Takeru bridal style before making a dash for the exit with all four Narutos following close behind.

From outside a couple of men saw columns of smoke rising from the temple. "Someone call for help the Shuumeiji temple is on fire!" one of them shouted.

As the two men ran to get help, neither of them noticed the limousine parked in the street overlooking the temple in the distance. Inside the limousine, the man from before at the temple was on a cell phone. "Yes it is the Witchblade. Tell Master Hougen to send reinforcements," he said before hanging up. Turning to watch the temple burn, he smirked. _So the Witchblade has already chosen a new bearer huh? Interesting._

____________________

"Demons did this to you Sister Senshuu-ni?!" asked Akeno Minamoto.

"Yes it's true. They must have come for the demon's hand," said Sister Senshuu who was currently lying in one of the patient beds at his clinic.

"The demon's hand? But wasn't it stolen from the Shuumeiji temple ages ago?"

"That's the thing on Takeru's hand right?" asked Kou who had quietly entered the room.

Akeno immediately turned to the sound of his son's voice. "Kou don't you dare enter here without knocking."

"What is the demon's hand granny? And what's it doing to Takeru?" Kou pressed on as he walked over to where Sister Senshuu was lying.

"Kou I want you to go back outside."

"Hey don't count me out." Everyone now turned to see Naruto walking in. "I saw those monsters too and I saw what happened to Takeru so don't I have a right to know what's going on?"

"That's it! Kou and Naruto both of you leave this instant!"

"It's alright," said Sister Senshuu. Tears had started streaming down her eyes. Naruto felt pity for the old woman. In just one day her home was destroyed, she got attacked by monsters and on top of that her daughter's now wearing this 'demon hand' thing which caused her to transform into a berserker.

"Are you sure it's alright Sister Senshuu-ni?" said Akeno hesitantly. In his heart he knew the boys had already seen too much but his desire to keep Kou out of danger was what compelled him into trying to make them both leave.

"They've already seen so much it wouldn't do anyone any good to try and hide things from them now."

Naruto and Kou huddled around the old woman as she continued. "Don't let Takeru near the demon's hand. That was what her mother would always say."

"Dad did you know about this?" asked Kou suddenly

"Of course I did. We are demon hunters after all Kou. Had you studied your heritage more diligently you would know that this is your legacy," said Akeno.

"Demon hunters? So that means the stories Takeru was telling me about were…" Naruto started to say.

"True. Every single one of them is true." Akeno paused for a moment before he went on. "A long time ago these lands were filled with ravenous demons that devoured humans. For a long time they went unchallenged and then the demon hunters appeared. Some say they were born out of necessity while others say they come from the heavens above to wage war with the demons and wage war they did. For many years they fought a vicious and bloody battle that claimed many lives. Eventually however, the great demon leader's arm was severed from its body and so too was the source of the demon's power. It was then that the tide of the battle turned and the demon hunters were able to annihilate every one of those foul creatures before laying their remains to rest in the mound outside the village."

Akeno adjusted his glasses before continuing, "It was our kin that dealt the death blow. An ancestor from our family, the Minamotos, hacked off the arm of the great demon leader. The demon leader's arm was left at the Shuumeiji temple. But it was supposed to have been stolen many years ago and has since been reduced to mere legend."

"It's no legend Akeno," said Sister Senshuu. "Twenty years ago my daughter discovered it while studying abroad and brought it back with her in her luggage."

"It was here the whole time?" said all three males.

"I knew that its return would bring fear and anxiety to the village so I kept its existence a secret. However my daughter's fiancée could not. He believed it was a souvenir worthy of much acclaim. But I knew to even call it that was to lose the significance of its return. So I enshrined it in the store house where I hoped it would fade into obscurity. But my daughter's fiancée must have said too much because one day he disappeared. It was then that my daughter became fearful of the demon's hand. "Don't let Takeru near it," she would say right up until the day she died."

At this point she started to tear up again. "But I failed. I never imagined anything like this would happen. I should have moved it to another temple. I'm such a fool."

"This isn't your fault Sister Senshuu-ni," said Akeno. "Besides Takeru-chan seems to be fine right now."

Both Naruto and Kou frowned at this. _You're wrong dad. The way she looked back there… Takeru looked like… a Demon._ Kou thought to himself. He was unaware of how similar his thoughts were to Naruto's at the moment.

____________________

In one of the guest rooms at the Minamoto home, Takeru had finally woken up. However instead of getting up, she just sat there staring off into space occasionally running a hand over the bracelet on her right wrist that had been there when she woke up. After what seemed like an eternity she heard footsteps approaching.

"You awake yet?" asked Kou with a grin as he let himself in.

Takeru simply stared at the wall for a few seconds before finally asking, "Kou, are grandma and Sister Seishuu okay?"

"My dad's taking care of granny. But Sister Seishuu's wounds were so deep they had to take her to the emergency room."

"I see… and what about you and Naruto?"

"Hmm me? I'm fine nothing to worry about," said Kou with a chuckle. "Naruto's okay too but the Shuumeiji temple was burned to the ground."

Kou took a seat next to Takeru. "The police are investigating but they pretty much assume it was a robbery. It's not like anyone would believe in demons these days."

At the mention of demons, Takeru shuddered and took to staring at one of the walls.

Kou noticed her sudden discomfort. "Takeru, hey Takeru are you sure you're okay?"

Just then the door opened again as Naruto stepped in. "How's she doing?"

"I'm not sure she doesn't seem to be injured but…"

Takeru spun to face Naruto. The first thing she noticed was that he was no longer wearing his school uniform. Instead he was wearing a pair of jeans with an orange sweatshirt. She vaguely remembered how she and Kou used to tease him about his obsession with the color orange. She also noticed a slight bulge under his sweatshirt over his right shoulder and could see part of a white bandage sticking out from the neck. "Naruto I…"

"It's alright Takeru-chan. I'll be fine and I'm not blaming you for what happened," said Naruto with one of his trademark grins. Seeing it and hearing his words made Takeru feel relieved.

"Hey Naruto I've been meaning to ask you but what was that thing you did earlier? You know where there were suddenly three of you," asked Kou.

This got Takeru's attention as well. "Come to think of it, you did the same thing earlier too right? Back when that demon was about to attack me from behind."

Naruto nodded, his face becoming more serious now. Taking a seat next to Takeru and Kou he let out a sigh. "Okay I did promise I'd explain everything but you guys got to promise me you won't tell anyone else what you're about to hear. I'm not even supposed to tell you two but by now it's a little too late for that."

Both Kou and Takeru nodded. "I promise," said Kou.

"I do too."

"Alright then." With that, Naruto proceeded to tell them about shinobi and jutsu as well as where he was really from.

____________________

At the clinic, Akeno was heading out to his car when his cell phone started ringing. "Hello?" he asked after answering it. "Mr. Mayor? How can I help you? Did your wife have another episode?" After a few seconds though, Akeno almost dropped his phone in surprise. "What?"

____________________

"So you're telling me you're actually from a continent that's been hidden from the rest of the world by a genjutsu, some kind of illusion?" asked Kou in a skeptical tone.

Naruto nodded. "I know it sounds hard to believe but it's the truth."

"Hard to believe? How's that even possible in the first place!?"

"But we both saw what he did back at the temple Kou," said Takeru. "That couldn't have been our imagination and you admitted yourself you saw him make three copies of himself to help carry Sister Seishuu and grandma."

"Yeah but still."

"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to Kou," said Naruto with a glare. He had been expecting something like this from Kou but it still angered him that his friend would call him a liar. "But that's the truth whether you want to believe it or not."

"What about those people who you said were after you? The Akatsuki?" asked Takeru.

"Right well remember how I told you about Kekkei Genkai?"

Takeru nodded. "You said those were bloodline limits right? Which certain clans had that allowed them to perform unique jutsu?"

"That's right. Well there are a number of shinobi in the elemental countries that have something somewhat similar to that only it's not really a bloodline trait. We just have really high amounts of chakra much more than any ordinary shinobi would," Naruto explained. He knew he was leaving out the part about the Kyubi but he couldn't bring himself to tell them about it after what happened today especially after hearing about the demon hunters. Jiraiya had also told him about the Bijuu and the Jinchuriki during their travels. "Anyways Akatsuki is a group of rogue ninja who are trying to capture all the shinobi that have unusually high levels of chakra but we still don't know why."

"Wait you lost me on that. What exactly was chakra again?" asked Kou. While he was reluctant to believe the part about being from a hidden continent that had been concealed by an illusion, he could believe in chakra after seeing what Naruto was capable of.

"This," said Naruto as he held out an open palm. "Is chakra." With that a blue swirl of energy started gathering in the palm of his hand.

"Chakra's a combination of physical and spiritual energy that we learn to use through physical and mental effort. But not just anyone can use chakra. Now days only people born in the elemental countries are able to use it. But Ero-Sennin told me that at one time people all over the world could." With that Naruto quickly dissipated the chakra not wanting to risk causing damage to the room.

"Ero-Sennin? Who's that?" asked Takeru

"You've met him before he's Jiraiya. he's the one who brought me here."

"Jiraiya-san? He's a shinobi too?"

"He's one of the legendary Sannin, the three strongest ninja in our village. But he's also a big pervert who writes trashy novels and peeps on women."

"He does?!" Takeru gasped. she thought back to the times she had seen Jiraiya and how he had always acted so kind and polite towards her and her grandmother. Then she remembered his last visit and how he had insisted on giving her a goodbye hug before leaving. During that hug she could have sworn she had felt something like a hand cup her rear but she had simply written it off as part of her imagination. But now she wondered if it really was just her imagination. _He didn't... He wouldn't..._

Both Naruto and Kou shuddered fearfully as Takeru began to give off a dark aura full of killing intent. She started mumbling something under her breath and Naruto could have sworn he heard the words "kill" and "pervert."

Wanting to change the subject, Kou said, "Hold on, didn't it say in that one history book that almost a thousand years ago, the feudal lords outlawed the practice of ninja because they were afraid their abilities?"

This seemed to snap Takeru out of her mood. "Yeah I think I remember reading about that," she said with a thoughtful look.

"I remember Ero-sennin telling me that it was because of that and the genjutsu around our continent that shinobi only exist in our homeland in this day and age. Feudal lords still exist where I come from and they still use shinobi," Naruto added. Then he chuckled, "But man, I never expected something like this to happen. I wonder what everyone back home would think."

Silence hung in the air for a few moments before Takeru finally spoke up. "So what are you going to do now Naruto? Now that your secret's out?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well as long as it's just you guys I think I'll be alright I just need to keep anyone else from finding out."

"Well you're secret's safe with us at least. Right Kou?" asked Takeru to which Kou nodded.

Naruto smiled, "Thanks guys."

Watching the Takeru and Naruto. Kou couldn't help but frown a little.

____________________

Arriving at his house, Akeno walked in to smell something cooking. "Is that for Takeru-chan?" he asked upon walking into the kitchen to see Kou heating up something in a large pot.

"Yeah," Kou muttered.

Akeno walked over and grabbed a glass from a cupboard before going to the sink with it. "Is something wrong?" he asked as the glass began to fill up with water.

"Damn it! I feel so useless," Kou blurted out. _Even though Naruto and Takeru were fighting those demons all I could do was…_ In his anger, Kou slammed his bandaged left hand into the wall before wincing at the pain.

"Be careful there, you pretty much owe Takeru-chan that hand so you better take good care of it."

"I know," He remembered seeing Takeru's face while he was being carried on a stretcher through the hospital ward. She had been crying. _"Kou everything's going to be alright. I'll make sure you get fixed up good as new no matter what it takes!"_

A day later when he finally came to he had learned that his left hand along with part of the arm had been saved thanks to a skin graft that had been done. Takeru had selflessly volunteered to use her own flesh to help save his left hand. To make matters worse it had been his fault in the first place. He had failed to pay attention to the road that night while he was riding his motorcycle and didn't see the incoming truck in time. He'd been lucky to get away with just the injuries he had he was later told.

_She saved me that day and when she was in trouble all I could do was watch. I couldn't even move I was so scared,_ he though angrily to himself.

"Where's Naruto?" asked Akeno.

"He said he was going home to get some things real quick. He wanted to spend the night here."

"Well that's fine by me," said Akeno after setting down the empty glass and lighting up a cigarette. Taking a long drag he let out a puff of smoke before turning to leave the kitchen. "Kou I'd like you to come with me for a moment."

"Why what is it?"

"Just come to my study," Akeno said without looking back.

Kou turned off the stove before following his father to the study. "What's this all about?" he asked upon entering.

Akeno made no effort to reply as he continued digging through his closet before coming out with a long wooden box. Setting it down and opening it he pulled out a long blade with a wood handle and sheath, wrapped in cloth and set it down in front of him on the floor.

"This is Oni-Kiri-Tou, the demon slayer that our ancestors used to destroy the demons. If the demons have truly returned then a member of the Minamoto family must be the one who slays them."

Kou was almost too shocked to believe his ears. "Slay them? But I can't possibly…"

"There is no one else but you Kou." Akeno took another long drag from his cigarette. "I'm sorry son but I can't do it. If I could, I wouldn't have become a doctor. No matter what form the demons may take…"

To this Kou's eyes widened. An image of Takeru covered in blood amongst the bodies of slain demons entered his mind.

"You must slay them!"

**Author's Notes:** Here's the second chapter! I hope everyone enjoys it. Please read and review and I'll get up the next chapter when I can.


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all rights belong solely to their respective owners.

Chapter 3:

In the guest room, Takeru was busy trying to get some sleep. But every time she closed her eyes, she kept getting flashbacks of the fight. She saw herself killing the demons, drowning in the feeling of ecstasy that came from spilling their blood all over. She saw herself grabbing onto Naruto and ripping open part of his shirt and jacket before leaning her head down and… _No!_

Takeru's eyes shot open and she sat upright. _That wasn't me right? That couldn't have been me._ Yet try as hard as she did to reassure herself a small voice in the back of her mind kept insisting that it was her, the true her.

Deciding to get some fresh air, Takeru slid out of her futon and went over and opened one of the windows. Tonight there was a full moon up in the sky that cast a glow on the village below. Seeing it reminded Takeru of a similar night years ago when her mother was still alive.

"_Mommy?" she had asked while cuddled in her mother's lap. "Why did you name me Takeru? Isn't that a boy's name?" Her mother had simply smiled and replied, "Because I hoped you might be mistaken for a boy because girls become demons."_

Staring down at her hands, she almost thought she could see the blood from before still splattered all over them. _Am I a demon?_

Just then the Witchblade on her wrist began to give off a red glow and Takeru got the feeling that she was being watched. Looking down, she saw an older man with graying hair in a black suit staring up at her with a not so friendly grin on his face. For some reason the sight of this man caused something to stir inside her and before she knew it the Witchblade had activated as green armor began to wrap around her legs and arms partially. A menacing grin of her own appeared as she continued to stare down at the man.

"Follow me," was all the man said before leaping off into the distance. One part of her mind noted how the man had just leaped higher any ordinary human possibly could but for the most part she only cared about the aggressive feeling she got from him as well as the unusual aura he seemed to be giving off. Without so much as a second thought, she leaped out of the window to follow the man.

* * *

Kou sat in silence as he thought over his father's request. _Kill the demons? Slay them?_ "Is there really no one else dad?" he finally asked.

Akeno shook his head. "If the demons really have returned than a member of the Minamoto family must be the one to slay them."

After a few moments Kou reached out and picked up the Demon Slayer before pulling it slowly out of its sheath to examine the blade. As he was examining it he said in a quiet voice, "Dad, Takeru's now wearing the Witchblade right?"

"Yes."

"Then," Kou's voice began to shake. "Does that mean she's become a demon?"

Realizing what his son was getting at, Akeno sighed.

"Answer me!" Kou started to raise his voice. "Has Takeru become a demon? Do we…" his grip on the Demon Slayer tightened. "Will we have to kill her?!"

"I don't know," Akeno finally replied. "But if..." At that moment his cell phone started ringing. "Hello?" he said as he answered it.

Kou sat there trying to fight back the sense of anguish and despair he was beginning to feel. _Takeru's not a demon! She can't be there's no way that could happen!_

After a couple of minutes Akeno said "Alright I understand. I'll take care of it," and hung up.

"Who was it?"

"That was the mayor. Earlier today the three men who were working on the billboard for the upcoming festival went missing. There was blood at the scene as well as signs of a struggle taking place."

"Could it have been the demons? But I thought they were all killed back at the temple."

"It seems that there were more of them. The mayor had called to tell me that one of the men's bodies had been found or rather what was left of it. Most of the body was missing and what was left had been literally torn to pieces." Akeno paused to put out his cigarette in a nearby ash tray. "Kou you know what you need to do right?"

Kou nodded. "I understand but should I… ouch!" Kou winced and grabbed his left hand in pain. All of the sudden he felt a strange sensation. For some reason he felt as though someone was close by and something told him that this someone wasn't human either.

"What's wrong?"

"Just now I thought I sensed something." said Kou as he stood up. The feeling had already disappeared and it felt as though whoever or whatever it was had left.

"Could it have been one of the demons?"

"Maybe," Kou replied. At that moment a thought suddenly occurred to him. He quickly ran out of the study and down the hallway to the guest room. Slamming the door open he stepped in to find the room empty. One of the windows overlooking the house had been left open allowing a gentle night breeze into the room. _Did Takeru go after the demon?_

* * *

Takeru continued to jump through the trees following the man. Although he had disappeared from sight, for some reason she could still sense his presence perfectly and knew exactly which way to go. After several minutes of this she finally landed gracefully onto the ground below.

"There's no use hiding. I recognize your sweet scent, in fact I can almost taste it," she called out.

The man from before stepped out from behind a tree. "You've practically become an animal," he said with a smirk. "The Witchblade is devouring your humanity. You're beyond reason, governed only by instinct."

At that moment a group of demons appeared, surrounding Takeru from all sides. Takeru for her part merely took a casual glance around her, the situation doing nothing to intimidate her.

"**Can I eat her?**" one of the demons asked.

"Everything but the right arm. Now bring me the Witchblade!"

With that the demons began to slowly advance on Takeru. Tentacles began to appear from underneath her robe that began to transform into the rest of the green armor on her body. Raising her right hand to her mouth, she gently licked the tips of her claws. "Come and get it."

* * *

Elsewhere, Kou was racing through the village towards the edge of the forest. The feeling from before had already returned. He wasn't sure why but he somehow knew the way to go as he ran after Takeru. _This feeling is it the demon slayer? I sense something up ahead and I'm sure it's the creatures from before. But can I really do this?_

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Kou strengthened his resolve as he pressed on towards where he sensed the feeling was coming from.

* * *

Already two demons lay dead at Takeru's feet, one of them sliced almost all the way in half while the other had its throat and stomach slashed open. The remaining demons circled around Takeru trying to look for an opening.

Their leader continued to watch the fight from a distance. _Let's just see how strong this Witchblade wielder really is._ "Don't underestimate her. Even if she can't control it, she still possesses the Witchblade," he instructed.

Nodding in reply, the remaining demons came at her all at once. Takeru blocked one of their attacks with her sword and grabbed onto another the arm of another one. With a grunt she threw the demon over her shoulder and into a demon behind her. A demon's fist with her claw to stop an incoming punch, she raised her blade and a second later that demon's head hit the ground landing next to its lifeless body.

Another demon was about to attack her when from out of nowhere a kunai covered in a faint blue whirling energy appeared and penetrated the side of the demon's head before coming out the other end in a spray of blood and brain matter. The kunai continued to travel through the air going straight through an entire tree before imbedding itself into another tree.

The remaining demons growled as they looked to see who their attacker was. However even with their sharp vision they still couldn't see who it was through all the trees. All of the sudden they heard someone say "_Kage Bushin no Jutsu!_" followed by several puffs of smoke.

Takeru looked around confused as to what was going on. She glanced back at the kunai now imbedded in a tree. Suddenly someone yelled "Takeru get down!"

Acting quickly, she dropped to the ground in time to avoid a barrage of shuriken came in from all sides catching the demons off guard. They howled in pain as the shuriken continued to rain down on them. Through it all their leader stood dumbfounded as he watched them being attacked mercilessly by an unknown assailant. All of the sudden another kunai was headed his way covered in the same blue energy as before. Without thinking the man sharply leaned to his right as the kunai passed by where his head had just been a second before. "Who's there?! Show yourself!" he growled as he stared in the direct that the kunai had come from.

"Over here," someone called out. Suddenly a blond haired kid with whisker marks on his face stepped into the clearing. The man immediately recognized him as the same kid as before back at the temple.

"You have quite a bit of courage to attack us like that boy. But I'm afraid you've just made your last mistake," he said with a sneer.

Naruto matched it with a sneer of his own. "Heh, and why's that old man?" Behind him the demons he had attacked were slowly getting back to their feet. All of the sudden they heard multiple battle cries and looked up to see more Narutos come crashing down upon them each with a rasengan in an outstretched hand. As they collided with the demons, the rasengans tore through the demon's bodies before leaving small craters in the ground as the shadow clones landed.

The leader gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched the scene unfold. By that point Takeru was standing up again with her blade held ready. "So was that it?" she asked with a smile.

Seeing this, the leader smiled as well. "Not quite."

More demons came charging into the clearing all of the sudden in even greater numbers than before. Takeru and Naruto leaped out of the way in time but Naruto's shadow clones weren't as lucky as they were destroyed one by one.

Seeing this, their leader laughed. "Not bad boy but it looks like this really will be your last mistake." Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a severed finger. "Still," he said as he brought it to his mouth. "It's obvious to me now that the others will be no match for the Witchblade." With that he popped the finger into his mouth and quickly chewed it to bits.

Naruto couldn't help but make a face at this. _Disgusting!_

All of the sudden the man began to transform. His body started to bulge as his muscles grew and he seemed to be getting taller. His clothes started to tear and burst as his skin hardened and turned black while his teeth grew into fangs. In the end he stood there as a large hulking black demon with long gray hair with a set of large pincers for hands. Two small pairs insect like wings had grown out of his back as well. Other than his eyes he looked completely different from the other demons around him.

"**The Witchblade rightfully belongs to us. A mere human isn't fit to wield it let alone a young girl who's lost her sense of self,**" he said in a now deep and inhumane voice.

"If you want it so badly you'll have to come and take it from me. Besides I'm not satisfied yet I need more," Takeru replied.

"**You'll get your wish however it's my thirst for you that will be quenched.**" With that the leader turned to address the other demons. "**The rest of you keep our unwelcomed guest busy while I take care of the Witchblade host personally.**"

The other demons immediately began to pounce on Naruto, forcing him on the defensive. Moving back he made his way through the trees with the demons in hot pursuit. He started running up one of the trees until he reached one of the higher branches.

Unfortunately one of the demons simply smashed its fist into the tree snapping the tree in two in the process. Naruto leaped into the air as the tree came crashing down from underneath him. "_Kage Bushin no Jutsu._" More shadows clones appeared in the air around him. "Spread out!" he hollered. Immediately the clones took off in different directions with the demons following suite.

* * *

Meanwhile Takeru and the demon's leader were busy dodging and parrying each other's attacks as they made their way through the forest away from Naruto. Takeru couldn't stop grinning as they continued to clash with each other over and over. _Looks like I finally get a challenge for a change,_ she thought as she ducked under an incoming blow. Raising her blade above her head with both hands, she barely managed to block a powerful downward swing meant to cleave her in two.

Unfortunately this turned out to be a mistake. Before she could even react the demon quickly swung at her unprotected left side with his other pincer causing her to cry out in pain as she was sent flying back a fair distance before hitting the ground with a thud.

Confident in his victory the leader started to march over to her to claim the Witchblade before stopping and letting out a gasp. "**What?**"

Takeru was lying on the ground still but there was no sign of any injury. Green armor had also appeared on her left side right where the demon had managed to strike her.

"**So the Witchblade can act with a will of its own to protect its host. No wonder you were able to block it.**"

"Shut up," Takeru panted as she started to pull herself up. "We're not through yet… huh?" At that moment her left hand felt something cold and wet. Bringing her hand to her face she was able to make out the red color. It was fresh blood. Turning around, she saw it belonged to the corpse of a man lying lifelessly in a pool of it. Or rather the top half of the corpse was lying there.

Takeru's eyes widened as they went from blood red back to their original brown color. Looking back at her hands she started shaking and trembling uncontrollably. "Oh no… not again," she whispered to herself.

"**Little girl what do you think you're doing? Don't tell me you're already satisfied,**" said the leader as he came closer.

Takeru looked up at him. The fear and anxiety she was feeling were both obvious in her eyes.

"**I see you've managed to regain your sense of self somewhat.**" The leader raised one of his pincers into the air. "**Too bad, you couldn't have picked a worse time!**" With that he thrust the pincer straight into her stomach. Takeru let out a gasp before the air was knocked out of her and she was thrown back by the blow.

* * *

Elsewhere, Naruto had heard Takeru cry out. He desperately tried to maneuver around the demons to go and aid her. However the demon's numbers had increased yet again as more appeared from out of nowhere. It was all he could do to avoid getting killed. _Note to self: don't forget to bring smoke bombs next time,_ he thought with a grimace.

A short distance away one of the clones had just managed to kill one of the demons with a well aimed kunai when he sensed movement coming from the far off right. Stopping to look in that direction he was able to make out the outline of a person running in the limited light provided by the moon. A second later the unknown person called out "Takeru! Where are you?!" in a voice he knew all too well.

Just then the clone heard a sickening crunch and looked down to see a demon's hand imbedded in his stomach before disappearing in a puff of smoke. A second later the clone's memories were transferred back to the original and Naruto found himself smiling. _It's about time you showed up Kou._

* * *

Takeru slowly dragged herself to her knees before she ended up gagging and started vomiting. She was still feeling dizzy and disoriented from the blow but luckily it hadn't caused any serious injuries at least that she was aware of. As she tried to get herself under control, a clawed foot came down hard on her left arm with a loud crunch. Takeru screamed in pain as she felt the bones break under the impact.

"**As I said earlier,**" said the leader as he reached out and grabbed her right arm and hoisting her up by it. Takeru winced at the pain as the demon's pincer squeezed tightly against her arm. Tears were already running down her face. "**The Witchblade is not meant for a mere human like you. Therefore I'll be taking it back now.**" The pincer began to squeeze even tighter around her arm. Takeru cried out again as she struggled to get free.

Suddenly both Takeru and the leader heard a loud battle cry before a katana came swinging down slicing off the pincer that the demon was holding Takeru with. "**Ungh**" he groaned as he staggered away from Takeru.

"Kou," said Takeru when she saw who her savior was. "But why?"

Kou Minamoto stood there panting heavily as he held the Demon Slayer in front of him.

Smoke was now rising out of the stump of the demon's right arm with a hissing sound. The leader stared in shock at his wound. "**That sword… could it be the Demon Slayer?**" Then he chuckled. "**So even in this age the demon hunters still exist. Who would have thought?**"

"Kou why are you here?" asked Takeru.

"Back then on the day of the accident," Kou started.

Takeru's eyes widened.

"You saved me. Then back at the temple when you were in trouble all I could do was stand there and watch." Kou's hands tightened on the handle of the Demon Slayer. "So this time I'm going to help you. To pay you back for saving me back then. No matter what happens to you or what you become I'll always be there to fight beside you!" With that Kou charged forward with his sword raised.

Predicting this, the leader skillfully dodged to the side before swatting Kou aside with his remaining pincer. The impact sent Kou slamming into a nearby rock face. Kou coughed up a small spray of blood as he hit the ground.

"**I'll admit your sword is first rate but your skill with it is pitiful at best,**" said the leader as he walked over to where Kou lay sprawled. "**Still it would be better if I nip this fledgling demon hunter in the bud now before he has a chance to fully mature.**" With that, the demon reared back for the finishing blow. Only to jump backwards in time to avoid Naruto who had leapt in from above with another rasengan ready.

As the leader was about to counter he ended up having to use his pincer to shield himself from an incoming kunai thrown by a second Naruto that had appeared behind the first. The wind chakra infused kunai made a loud grinding noise as it collided with the demon's pincer before falling to the ground.

_Did that brat really think something like that would work against me?_ The leader thought as he lowered his remaining pincer. In the light of the moon he suddenly noticed something that caught his eye. A large crack had appeared that ran across the top half of his pincer. With a growl the demon swiped out at the Naruto still in front of him who disappeared in smoke while the real one kept his distance.

Taking a look around him Naruto saw Takeru lying on the ground a short distance to his left while to his right Kou lay sprawled next to a large rock. Seeing their injuries, he growled and turned back to the demon. "Bastard, I'll kill you for hurting my friends!"

"**I'll be the only one doing the killing here. I've had just about enough of you brats getting in my way!**" the leader roared. At that moment the two sets of tiny wings coming out of his back started to expand until they had grown into two sets of full sized wings. With them, he lifted off into the air until he was hovering high above them.

Naruto reached into one of his pouches to pull out some more kunai when the demon opened his mouth and let out a dark purplish cloud of gas. _Damn is that poison?_ Naruto thought as he held his breath and quickly made a hand sign. A second later two shadow clones emerged from the purplish cloud and grabbed Takeru and Kou before pulling them to safety while the real Naruto jumped out of the cloud. Before long the cloud started to disperse until it was gone completely.

Naruto started to reach for a kunai again, when his entire body suddenly went numb. He stumbled a bit before falling to the ground while his two clones suffered a similar reaction before they were dispelled. _I can't move. I must have breathed in some of that poison._ He thought as he tried to get up. But his body refused to respond despite his efforts.

Above him the leader began to laugh. "**That poison causes complete paralysis throughout your body. You won't be able to move a muscle while it's in your system.**" He then swooped down with his pincer aimed directly at Naruto. "**Now die you pests!**"

Time seemed to slow down for Naruto as he watched the demon descend upon him to finish him off. All of the sudden there was a blur and Takeru was standing in front of him sword in hand. Her previous injuries had seemingly vanished and although Naruto couldn't tell from his angle, her eyes had gone back to their blood red color. However unlike the previous times there was something different about them, something that made them seem more human. "Don't you dare lay a hand on them!" she yelled.

_She was able to control the Witchblade through sheer force of will?!_ The leader thought. By then it was too late for him to slow down or stop so he kept on going. _Fine then, I'll just finish them both off at once._

_Takeru it's you this time isn't it?_ Kou thought to himself as he watched her.

As soon as the two of them got close enough, Takeru swung out with her blade while the demon swung the open end of his pincer. The two ends met causing sparks to fly. But before long, more cracks began to appear across the demon's pincer before it snapped in two allowing Takeru's blade to continue passing through.

_Impossible!_ He thought. The last thing he saw was Takeru's blade flashing towards him.

* * *

From a distance, two men dressed in blue robes with straw hats watched quietly as the fight ended. "What should we do now? Shall we attack?" one of them asked.

The other one shook his head. "No, let's report this to lady Fuura." Both of them turned and left.

**Author's Note:** Well it looks like I was able to get this chapter done faster than expected. (Not that I'm complaining or anything of course!)

Some of you may be aware of this already but after giving it some thought, I've decided to do a complete rewrite on my other Naruto/Witchblade story. While planning for this I also was struck with inspiration on an idea that would allow me to combine the two stories essentially turning the other story into a continuation of this one.

Therefore when you get the chance, I would appreciate it if you could take a moment of your time to go to my profile and vote on which idea you want me to go with. The two choices are:

A) Rewrite the other story as a revised version.

B) Rewrite the other story as a continuation of this one. (This story would have a different plot but would draw on some of the same elements as the original.)

I'll only be looking at votes done in the poll so please use the poll to vote rather than reviews. However I do enjoy getting reviews so feel free to let me know what your thoughts are if you want. Also one thing to keep in mind is that if you go with the continuation you'll have to wait until I'm done with the story to see it posted.


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all rights belong solely to their respective owners.

Chapter 4:

"I see… So we're having trouble with the Witchblade's new host are we?" asked a young woman with light brown hair and brownish red eyes. She had a pair of small horns coming out of the sides of her head that curved forward. She was reclining in a large metal tub filled with warm water wearing nothing but a white bathrobe.

Above her head there was a large glass capsule. Inside the capsule a naked young woman was banging her fists against the side while screaming desperately for someone to let her out. Only a few feet above her head in the capsule was a large metal plate attached to a huge bolt. Coming out from the bottom of the plate were several razor sharp blades. The entire contraption looked as though it was made to grind whatever was in the capsule to paste and let it spill out through a small hole into the tub below.

"Yes madam Fuura," said one of the pilgrims while kneeling humbly on the ground before her. "It also appears that the US military has already started to take notice of our actions."

Lady Fuura sighed. "And Master Hougen has been waiting so impatiently too. Well no matter, for right now our priority is to reclaim the Witchblade before it has a chance to fully awaken. At that point no power on earth would be able to stop it."

Lady Fuura stopped at this point to glare up at the woman in the capsule above her. _Doesn't she ever shut up? _She thought with a frown. _What's the point for 'food' to scream anyways? It won't change anything._ Choosing to ignore the woman's pleas for the moment, she gave out her next orders. "Tell Kira to hurry up and capture the girl. Also tell him to be on the lookout for that demon slayer and that other boy as well."

"Yes my lady."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to leave that task to a single demon? Especially considering what had happened last night." a male's voice called out from the shadows in one of the far corners of the room.

Lady Fuura frowned as she turned to address their guest. "That wouldn't have happened if you had told us about him in the first place. Why didn't you tell us there was another shinobi here beside yourself?"

"I wasn't even aware that he was here at the time. You must understand that all information on his current whereabouts has been kept tightly under wraps. Regardless do you really think it's a good idea to trust just one of your subordinates to handle this?"

"I don't see any reason why not. No matter what kind of special 'abilities' this boy may have in the end he's still just a human."

"Be careful there. Many people in the past have made the fatal mistake of underestimating him. Don't take him lightly just because he's human."

To this, Lady Fuura simply snorted. "Never the less, I still believe Kira won't have any trouble with him. It's the Witchblade I'm more concerned about. Speaking of which, you haven't forgotten your part of the bargain have you?" she asked as she narrowed her eyes.

"Of course not. Don't worry I intend to keep my end of our deal."

"Good then you just worry about your part and let me worry about mine."

A moment passed before the stranger finally replied. "Very well have it your way." From the darkness a single eye seemed to stare out at her with a piercing gaze. It was almost as though it could see right through her. "Feel free to capture him if you wish but I'm afraid I must ask that you don't kill him."

To this Lady Fuura glared. "Just why not? Why shouldn't I kill him after he killed so many of our own?"

"He has a very special power that's too valuable for me to throw away. He'll play an important role in the future of the Elemental Countries."

"Oh? And just what might that role be?"

"That's something I can't reveal to you just yet unfortunately. I need to ask that you just trust me on this. Anyways contact us if you do manage to capture him and we'll take over from there."

Lady Fuura was about to make a comeback when the visitor seemed to merge into the shadows surrounding him and disappeared.

"Forgive me for speaking so boldly madam but is it alright to trust that man?" asked the pilgrim after their visitor disappeared.

"To be honest I'm not sure myself." she replied with a thoughtful look. Something about this whole deal had seemed off from the very beginning. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was being used in some way. "Regardless we've seen his abilities first hand and if it's true that he can pull off what he says he can then we can't afford to pass up on this opportunity."

"Of course my lady."

"Still if he does try to betray us we can always just kill him. Or for that matter when his usefulness runs out," she continued with a grin. "Anyways tell Kira I'm leaving the matter of the Witchblade in his hands."

With a bow, the pilgrim turned to leave when Lady Fuura spoke again. "Oh and one more thing."

Reaching up, she pulled on a nearby rope. All of the sudden a loud grinding noise filled the room as the metal plate inside the capsule began to descend on the poor girl. Her screaming only seemed to get louder and more frantic as she was slowly pressed further and further into the bottom of the capsule as the blades began to dig into her flesh. Finally with a sickening crunch followed by a series of squishing noises the plate came down all the way in a spray of blood and gore splattering it all over the inside of the capsule. Most of it however came spraying out through the opening in the bottom and into the tube below.

Lady Fuura moaned as it rained down upon her, drenching her completely. "Tell him to bring me another girl," she said as she licked some of it off her face. "And make sure she tastes as sweet as this one."

* * *

"So how is it?" asked Takeru as Kou took a bite out of the bento lunch she had prepared.

"Mm delicious! If there's one thing you're good at Takeru it's cooking."

"One thing!? Just what's that supposed to mean?" Takeru said with a playful glare.

The two of them were sitting in the grass enjoying lunch right outside the front of the school. Given the tranquil smiles on their faces no one would have imagined that just the other night they had been engaged in a life and death struggle against demons.

"By the way does your dad have any idea when Naruto will be able to leave the hospital?" asked Takeru.

"If everything goes well we should be able to pick him up this afternoon. Luckily it looks like he only breathed in a little of whatever that poison was the demon used." Kou replied after swallowing.

"That's good to hear." Takeru yawned and stretched. "Still I'm surprised your dad bought our cover up story. I almost expected him to burst out laughing or something when we told him how Naruto had tried to take a short cut through the woods and ended up stumbling into the middle of the fight."

"Yeah I know what you mean"

"I can't help but feel kind of bad for him though. After all he did last night we're the only ones that are ever going to know and on top of that he's the only one that ended up having to be carried back to the house." Takeru suddenly started giggling. "Still that look on his face was priceless when your dad told him he was going to have stay at the hospital overnight. I don't think I've ever seen someone freak out so much in my life."

Kou couldn't help but chuckle a little himself when he thought back on that.

"Well lookie here! What's this, a lover's picnic?" said Ayaka as she appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around Takeru.

"Not really," Takeru mumbled while blushing slightly.

"Is there possibly room for one more?" said Ayaka as she reached over to and was about to grab an octopus ball from out of Takeru's bento.

"Um not really and can you please get off of me?"

"Didn't you bring your own lunch Ayaka?" asked Kou with a scowl.

Ayaka pouted, "No and the school cafeteria's already closed. I was too busy have hot sex on the roof with a senior to go down and get anything."

Takeru's blush only got worse. "One of these days Ayaka," she said muttered.

"Buddha will punish me right?" Ayaka finished for her as she brought the octopus ball to her mouth. "Just once I'd like to see what punished feels like."

Takeru grumbled a bit as she slipped out of Ayaka's arms and moved to a spot further away taking her bento with her.

"By the way, where's Naruto? Doesn't he usually eat with you guys?" Ayaka asked as she finally noticed the blondes' absence.

"He's." Takeru started to say.

"He's at the hospital," Kou interrupted.

Ayaka gasped, "Really? What for? Was he hurt or something?"

Kou shook his head. "Nothing like that, he just had a really bad case of food poisoning we think. It was so bad he ending up collapsing at our house and my dad ended up taking him to the hospital."

"Oh well that's a relief. At least it wasn't anything…" Suddenly Ayaka's eyes lit up. "Hold on! If he was at your house when he collapsed than that must mean… wait don't tell me."

Both Kou and Takeru gave her a confused look both wondering the same thing. _What's going through that head of hers right now?_

A perverted grin soon appeared on Ayaka's face. "He was staying over at your house last night right?"

"Yeah," Kou replied slowly.

Ayaka's grin grew even wider. "Takeru-chan was staying there too right?" At that point she ran over and clasped her hands over Takeru's. "Congratulations Takeru-chan I'm so happy for you!" she said with stars in her eyes. "So how was it? Was it painful? Because I heard for some girls it can be for their first time."

By this time both Takeru and Kou looked like fish out of water with their wide eyes and the way their mouths hung open.

"Still I have to say I'm impressed. I never thought you'd try it with two guys right from the start. Not that I can blame you I mean who could possibly choose between those two?" All of the sudden her eyes seemed to light up again. "Say in that case does that mean you'll consider letting me join you next… Ow!" she cried holding the top of her head.

Takeru was literally shaking as she lowered her hand. "You've got it all wrong Ayaka there's nothing like that going on between me and Kou or Naruto."

"But last night you."

"I spent the night at Kou's yes and Naruto was there too but nothing happened do you hear me? Nothing happened last night!" Takeru shouted out loud.

Suddenly almost everyone outside turned in their direction. Takeru suddenly became very self conscious as she felt everyone's inquisitive gaze boring into her.

"Wow Takeru-chan you did it again. You really need to learn when to keep your voice down," Ayaka playfully chided her.

All of this was too much for Takeru. Without looking back, she fled into the school building.

"Takeru wait!" Kou called after her. But by that time she was already out of hearing range. "Nice going Ayaka," he said as he glared at her.

"Aw I'm sorry Kou-kun I didn't mean to embarrass her," said Ayaka with a guilty look.

Seeing her look of remorse Kou decided to let it go. "Okay fine anyways we'll be heading down to the hospital later to check in on Naruto, do you want to come with us?"

"Sure I'd love to. Are you going to see Sister Seishuu while you're there too?"

"Of course we will. See you there then I'm going to check on Takeru." With that Kou ran into the building.

Ayaka reached down and grabbed another octopus ball out of Takeru's bento before popping it into her mouth. "Hmm delicious!" she said with approval.

* * *

_Boring,_ Naruto thought with a yawn as he sat propped up in a hospital bed. _You just had to poison me didn't you? You stupid demon._

Even though he was certain he had only breathed in a little of the poison it seemed like it was still enough to prevent him from moving even after Takeru manage to kill the demon. He must have passed out as well shortly afterwards because the next thing he remembered was waking up to find himself lying in a futon at the Minamoto residence.

As Takeru and Kou later explained to him, they had managed to come up with a cover story for how he got poisoned. He was surprised and relieved to hear that Kou's father bought the story. That is until Kou's father told him he was going to be hospitalized. Then everything kind of went downhill from there. He had insisted that he was feeling better but Kou's father still insisted on sending him to the hospital just to be on the safe side. It was then that he tried to flee but he was still feeling weak and it was still extremely difficult to move. Needless to say, it didn't take much for Kou and Takeru to catch him.

_Traitors,_ he thought bitterly to himself.

There were a number of reasons why he hated hospitals. Back in Konoha he was constantly in the hospital for one reason or another. One of the things he had always hated about it was the strange smell that hit him when he walked in. Tsunade had tried to explain to him at one point that it was from the chemicals they use to sterilize the place but what mattered to him was that it smelled weird.

Another reason he hated hospitals was that he couldn't train there. Whenever he would try, he'd be told to lie back down and if he tried going outside the hospital staff would catch him and drag him back to his room or worse they'd get Sakura or Tsunade to do it. He was Naruto Uzumaki for crying out loud! Future Hokage! He didn't have time to be lying in a bed when he needed to be getting stronger.

The final and scariest reason was when Sakura or Tsunade treated him themselves. Even though they usually didn't say much he always felt on edge around them as if he'd have to bolt at any second. The intense waves of killer intent they seemed to give off didn't help either. He could understand why they would be upset that he got hurt and everything but wasn't a hospital supposed to be a place where you feel safe?

Naruto sighed. _At least I only have to stay for today. Tomorrow I can get back to my training._

Little did he know that by tomorrow he would have things a lot more important to worry about than training.

* * *

In his office Kira was listening to the messenger who was delivering Lady Fuura's latest orders. "Understood, tell her I'll deliver it to her personally and I'll take care of that other matter as well."

"Yes sir," said the pilgrim who then left.

A minute later a nurse walked in after knocking on the door. "I'm sorry to trouble you with this right now doctor but would you be willing to check on the patient in room 394? According to his charts he's supposed to get one last checkup before being picked up this afternoon."

"Of course," Kira replied with a smile.

Walking down the hallway towards the room, the nurse handed him the files on the patient. Kira glanced through them with only half interest until his eyes wandered to the patient's name. After glancing at it a second time to make sure he wasn't mistaken, he carefully started reading the rest of the file.

"So the patient was brought in for food poisoning?" he asked the nurse beside him. "That's rather unusual."

"Apparently it was a severe case. The patient was suffering from nausea and lethargy. He had also complained about having difficulty moving his body," the nurse replied.

"I see." Upon reading over the file some more Kira spotted something else that caught his interest. The first doctor that examined him had made a note about how an unknown toxin had been found in the patient's bloodstream. Since his body appeared to be purifying the toxin on its own and all his vital signs were stable, the doctor had recommended that he be held overnight for observation.

_Interesting,_ Kira thought as he kept on reading. When he read the name of the person who checked the patient in he couldn't help but grin at his good fortune. Akira Minamoto, he recognized that last name. The demons that had reported in on last night's battle had also mentioned that the Witchblade host and her companions had gone to the Minamoto residence after leaving the scene of the battle.

At this point wasn't any doubt in Kira's mind as to the identity of the patient.

* * *

In his room, Naruto tensed suddenly. _That feeling again._ His eyes cautiously swayed back and forth across the room as the feeling got even stronger. Something or someone was coming his way that much he knew and for some reason they gave him the same feeling as the demons from yesterday.

* * *

Stopping outside the patient's room, Kira slowly opened the door while putting on a friendly smile. "Good morning Uzumaki-kun," he said as he walked into the room.

Naruto simply glared at him. The man had blond hair and blue eyes and a face that no doubt drew the attention of many of the women he passed by. Appearance wise he seemed human but Naruto wasn't about to let himself be fooled."You can drop the act."

"Why whatever do you mean?" Kira asked without letting his smile slip.

"I know what you really are demon. I could sense you before you even entered the room," Naruto growled.

Kira's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I see, in that case we'll skip the formalities. I have to say I'm impressed though not many humans are able sense our presence when we're in human form."

"What do you want?" said Naruto as he jumped out of the bed and got into a fighting position.

Kira raised his hand in a calming gesture. "Easy now, rest assured it's not you we're after. We're only interested in the Witchblade."

"The Witchblade?"

"Yes the bracelet on that young girl's wrist. It's unfortunate that the Witchblade chose a human as its host but it's an easy enough problem to fix."

"You leave Takeru alone you hear me?!" Naruto said in cold fury.

"Unfortunately while we have little interest in you personally you do pose a threat to us. For that reason I'll have to ask that you come with me. Luckily for you I've been ordered not to kill you."

"Like hell I'll be going with you!" Naruto shouted as he got ready to make hand signs for a jutsu."

Kira sighed, "How very human of you. At the first sign of disagreement you resort to violence." Strands of spider silk began to come out of his back as it reached for the ceiling outside the room. "Unfortunately for you, I've always thought fighting was simply too barbaric so I propose we settle this through negotiations instead."

"What could we possibly negotiate about?" said Naruto as he eyed the man cautiously.

"Like what will happen to this poor nurse if you refuse to come with me." With a ripping sound a woman fell down from the ceiling wrapped up in silk. From where he was, Naruto could tell that she was unconscious but otherwise she appeared to be unharmed.

"She's rather pretty don't you think?" said Kira as more silk threads pulled her up to a standing position beside him. He ran a single hand across her face. "Such a young and gentle face with soft, delicate lips." At this his hand stopped at her neck. "Such a tender neck, so fragile I could snap it in an instant." His hand tightened around her neck slightly.

"You bastard!" Naruto swore. His whole body was shaking with barely contained anger.

"Now then what say you put your hands down and don't try to use any your jutsu. Otherwise I just don't know what will happen to this poor nurse."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. "How did you?"

Kira smiled, "I know a lot about you Naruto Uzumaki. For instance I know you're not really from Japan or any other known country in the world. You're from a place called the Elemental Countries correct?" At that moment over a dozen more strands of silk came out of his back and flew down the hall in both directions before piercing into four shadow clones who were all struggling against something. One by one they all turned to smoke.

_But how?_ Naruto thought as the clones memories came back to him. It seemed that just before they were destroyed, all four clones had run into some kind of silky material although they couldn't see what it was. Whatever it was it had stuck to them and held fast. It was just as they were about to break free that they were impaled instantly by those strands of silk.

"It's useless you know, you're already trapped inside my web. No one's coming to your rescue without me knowing and none of your tricks will work," said Kira with a confident smirk.

It was then Naruto caught a glimpse of something in front of him that reflected off the light coming in from a nearby window. He was barely able to make out a thread so thin it was almost impossible to see. The thread originated from Kira's body where even more of them were coming out of his back and were weaved throughout the room in a complex crisscross pattern. It would be impossible for anything in the room to approach the man without touching at least one of them. Naruto had no doubt that the hallway must be filled with even more of those tiny threads as well. _So that's it, he can use those thinner threads to feel for any kind of movement around him._

Naruto grimaced. If the hallway really was really filled with more of that spider silk like he suspected than this man was right. No one would be arriving without alerting him to their presence first which would give him enough of time to kill the nurse. At the same time, if Naruto made any sudden moves he would also kill the nurse. "Damn you," he whispered as he finally lowered his hands to his sides.

Kira's smirk only grew wider. All of the sudden more spider silk came out and wrapped around Naruto in layers until he was wrapped up much like the nurse. Naruto struggled to get free to no avail.

"Don't worry like I said I'm not allowed to kill you," said Kira. The threads in front of him parted to the side as he approached and he left more strands of silk behind him some of which wrapped around the nurses neck while the rest simply hovered in front of her, ready to impale her if Naruto tried anything.

"Still," he said as he came to a stop right in front of Naruto. "It would be annoying to have to take you with me struggling the whole way but I've already come up with a solution for that." He reached into his jacket packed and pulled out a syringe filled with a clear liquid.

Naruto continued to struggle as he saw the needle but the silk held fast. Kira grabbed his chin and quickly stuck the needle into the side of his neck. "Sweet dreams," he said as the contents of the syringe entered Naruto's body. Almost immediately, he started feeling drowsy and he found it harder and harder to keep his eyes open with each passing second. Finally his eyes closed completely as he entered a deep slumber.

**Author's Note:** Oh no's! What's going to happen to Naruto now?! Well I already know but all you readers will have to wait until my next update. (Insert evil smile) Anyways thanks for reading the chapter and feel free to leave questions and comments.

One more thing, I've decided to close the poll a bit early since at this point it's pretty obvious which story won. So I'm happy to announce that the revised version of the original Naruto/Witchblade story won by a little over 2 to 1. Check my profile if you want to see the actual results.

Please note that it will take some time before I actually start rewriting the story but rest assured it's already on my mind. Also I'll be keeping the original story up until I start to post the revised version.


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or Witchblade: Takeru nor do I own any of the characters from either series. I'm not making any money off of this story and all other characters and likeness belong solely to their respective owners.

Chapter 5:

After Naruto passed out, Kira waited a few more minutes to make sure he stayed that way. Only when he was positive that the young shinobi was completely unconscious did he pull out his cell phone to make a call. "It's me, tell Lady Fuura that I already have a special delivery for her," he said as he eyed Naruto's sleeping form. "Yes that's right it's that boy she mentioned… No I think it would be better if I just brought him there myself. I'm not sure how long the sedative I used will last on humans like him and I'd rather not take any chances… Alright see you soon."

Hanging up he turned to have another look at the sleeping boy. _Just what is it about you that's so special? Why would he insist that we keep you alive?_ After a second, he shrugged. He reached over and in one swift motion tore through the silk cocoon catching Naruto's body before it could hit the floor. Slinging him over his shoulder Kira turned to leave when he noticed the nurse he had used as a hostage out of the corner of his eye. _That's right I'll have to clean up this mess too won't I?_ He thought with a grin that revealed his teeth which had already grown into sharp fangs.

* * *

Later that afternoon after school finally let out, Takeru left for the hospital with Kou and Ayaka. The hospital that Naruto and Sister Seishuu were staying at was only about 20 minutes away from the school by bus. That left the trio plenty of time to buy some flowers from a nearby flower shop for Naruto and Sister Seishuu.

"I hope Naruto's feeling better, I'd hate to think what it would be like if he had to stay another day," said Takeru.

Kou nodded while Ayaka giggled. "Why the rush? Were you planning give him some 'special' treatment when he got home?" she asked with a perverted grin.

"Knock it off Ayaka," said Kou.

"Ahh is Kou-kun jealous? Don't worry Kou-kun, I'm sure Takeru-chan wouldn't mind you joining in. Or maybe you'd rather be with Sister Seishuu I mean she **is** sexy after all."

"Is that all you think about Ayaka!?"

"One of these days Ayaka Buddha **will** punish you," Takeru muttered under her breath with a clenched fist.

Before long both Takeru and Kou were chasing Ayaka around the front of the hospital with Ayaka laughing the whole time. After some time passed, they finally calmed down enough to where they were ready to enter the hospital.

After asking for Naruto's and Sister Seishuu's rooms at the front desk the three of them agreed to split up. Takeru and Kou would check on Naruto first while Ayaka went ahead to see Sister Seishuu where they would meet her after picking up Naruto.

Walking towards his room, the two of them started chatting about the various happenings in school. "Hey did you hear we have a new librarian?" Takeru suddenly brought up.

Kou shook his head. "No I didn't."

"Yeah apparently Mrs. Hitomo finally went into labor so they had to quickly find a replacement for her."

This stopped Kou in his tracks. "I didn't know she was pregnant. So what's the new librarian's name?" he asked.

Takeru thought about it for a moment before replying. "Hmm, I think her name was Ms. Sakurai or something."

As the two of them got closer to Naruto's room they both were overcome with a morbid feeling. Kou found himself gripping the wrapped up Demon Slayer more tightly as his left hand started to ache. _This sensation_ he thought. Turning to Takeru he saw she had wrapped her arms around herself and was shaking so badly she almost dropped the bouquet of flowers she was carrying.

"Kou," Takeru managed to get out.

"Yes?"

"They were here weren't they? A demon was here recently."

Kou was surprised to hear her say this. "How can you tell?"

Takeru smiled slightly and tapped the bracelet on her wrist. "I think this thing's telling me."

"I see." _But if that's the case..._ At that moment both of them came to the same conclusion with a gasp, "Naruto!"

They bolted to the room 304 and slammed open the door only to find the room empty. But the feeling from back in the hallway was stronger than ever here. A demon had definitely been in this room recently. As they both turned to run out of the room Kou noticed that the bag containing Naruto's clothes was missing from the room as well.

Running downstairs, Kou managed to reach the front desk first. "Has anyone else been here to see Uzumaki Naruto today?" he demanded. Flabbergasted, the woman at the front desk still managed to check on her computer. "No sir no one's come by today to visit him other than you."

"Did he check out on his own already?" Takeru asked. The receptionist checked and shook her head a second later. "No it stills shows him as being checked in. Why was he not in his room?"

"No one's there, and his stuff's gone too," said Kou.

"But that's impossible!" the woman protested. "He was supposed to get one last checkup. None of the staff would have allowed him to leave before then. Although…" the woman trailed off and started typing on her computer again for a few seconds before frowning, "hmm."

"What is it?"

"That's odd. It shows that his checkup was scheduled to be done hours ago but the nurse that was assigned to him still hasn't shown up." At this both Takeru and Kou shared a worried glance.

A few minutes later, they both found themselves walking away from the front desk. After explaining again how they had entered the room and found it empty and how all his stuff was missing, the woman had agreed to contact the police.

_Damn,_ Kou thought as he leaned against a nearby wall. "How could this happen? How did they even know he was here?" he almost shouted.

"Naruto," Takeru whispered in a shaky voice. Tears were already started to appear in her eyes.

Kou put a comforting arm around her shoulder. "It's going to be alright Takeru. We'll find him I promise."

"But if something's already happened to him," Takeru started to say.

"If they were planning to kill him I doubt they would have needed to take him out of the hospital and there wasn't any blood back in the room either so I'm sure he's alright for now." Kou reasoned.

"I guess you're right."

_Still how did they know he was here? Was one of them working in the hospital? And why would they need him alive?_ Those were Kou's thoughts as he stood there with an arm wrapped around Takeru, watching all the staff coming and going.

* * *

Naruto groaned as he started to stir. Slowly, his eyes began to open before he quickly shut them to keep out the glare from the bright lights. Eventually his eyes adjusted enough that he was able to keep them open.

As he sat up, the first thing he noticed was that his wrists were confined some kind of strange metallic device resembled shackles. It was unlike anything he had seen before. He also noticed he was no longer wearing a hospital gown but rather the clothes he had been wearing that night when he was admitted to the hospital.

After a quick look around, he confirmed that he was confined in a metal cell at the end of a long corridor filled with similar cells on either side. From the looks of it he was the only one here. Standing up, he started to try and focus wind chakra into his fingertips to try and form a blade. Almost immediately he started to feel a draining sensation and the chakra he was gathering vanished. At the same time the device suddenly started to get warm.

Naruto grimaced. _So this thing absorbs my chakra when I try to use it. Guess that means I'm stuck here for the moment._

A couple of minutes later he heard the sound of a metal door opening and turned to see a young man entering the corridor whom he recognized as the doctor back at the hospital. "You!" he snarled as he and slammed his hands against the bars of his cell. "Where the hell am I and what did you do to that nurse?!"

Kira merely smirked as he stopped outside of Naruto's cell. "My, aren't we in a foul mood? I'm surprised to see you up so soon it's only been a few hours since I gave you that sedative. Maybe there is something to you after all."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto growled.

"Oh it's nothing important. As for the nurse well regrettably she'll be taking a permanent leave of absence. Let's just leave it at that."

"You bastard! You killed her anyways didn't you!?"

"Oh come on. Did you really think I was going to let her go after all that? You're way too naïve kid. Instead of worrying about her you should have worried about saving yourself from the very beginning."

"I'm not like that! I'm not a heartless bastard like you!"

"We're not as heartless as you may think," said Kira, as he got a little closer to the cell. "It's just that to us humans are little more than cattle. So why would I feel obligated to make deals with a mere food source?"

Naruto growled and clenched his hands into fists at that remark.

"And how's our guest doing?" a woman's voice called out.

Both of them turned to see a young woman with blond hair wearing a white kimono walking down the corridor with two large green demons escorting her on either side. The horns coming out of the sides of her head were a tell tale sign that she was a demon herself. She came to a stop next to Kira who graciously stepped aside so she could have a better look at their captive.

"Lady Fuura, it's a pleasure like always to be in your radiant presence," said Kira with a slight bow.

Lady Fuura continued to stare at the blonde haired boy in the cell before her. Other than the strange scars on his face that resembled whiskers, she didn't see anything out of the ordinary. _So this is the boy that man told me about huh? Just what is it about him that makes him so special anyways?_ She thought with a frown. Just then, she thought she felt something unusual coming from the boy though she could just barely sense it.

_Is she supposed to be the leader?_ Naruto thought while she continued to stare at him. Almost a minute passed by before he couldn't take it anymore. "What's your problem? What do you want with me?" he demanded.

"Nothing really. It's the Witchblade I'm interested in not you. However I was warned about you so I thought I'd take the precaution of keeping you locked up so you wouldn't get in our way."

"What is the Witchblade? Why are you after it?"

"It's one of the most powerful weapons in the world. A weapon that rightfully belongs to us rather than you humans," she said with a look of disgust. "More importantly what are you doing here young man? Japan is quite a ways away from the Elemental Countries and from what I understand people there never visit the outside world."

To say Naruto was surprised would have been an understatement. But then again he recalled that Kira had made a similar comment back at the hospital. "How do you even know about the Elemental Countries? Who are you anyways? Are you the leader of these demons?"

"I'm Lady Fuura and yes I am the leader. As for how I know about your homeland that's something you don't need to know about."

"The hell I don't! Start talking or else…"

Before he had a chance to say anything more, the two demons besides Lady Fuura growled and started to advance until she held up her hand in a gesture for them to stop. "I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you boy," she said as she turned to address him again. "The only reason you're even alive right now is that I was asked not to kill you. But if you push your luck, I might just change my mind."

"Who was it that told you that?"

Lady Fuura shook her head, "That's none of your business. And before you get any ideas maybe you should take a look at the situation you're in. Those shackles on your wrists are a device that absorbs your chakra whenever you try to use any of your abilities. Not only that but these cells are electronically locked so there's no key hole to pick. Now why don't you just answer my question and tell me what it is you're doing here?"

Naruto snorted, "Why should I tell you anything?"

"Because even if I don't kill you, that doesn't mean I won't torture you. After all no one said you had to be in one piece."

Naruto glared defiantly at her. "Do your worse, I'm not scared of creeps like you. Or better yet, why don't you just go ask this 'friend' of yours?"

Lady Fuura glared back at him before a long pink ribbon shaped appendage suddenly lashed out and imbedded itself into the wall behind him. Naruto tried to not make a face at the sudden pain coming from his right cheek. Already he could feel blood dripping from where the tendril had cut him. Naruto continued to stare at her defiantly as the ribbon freed itself from the wall and receded back into her body.

"I'm done here," she finally hissed before turning to leave. Stopping at the door with her two escorts she turned back one last time. "Don't think this is over, one or another I'll get my answers."

Kira whistled quietly to himself as the door slammed. "I haven't seen her that angry in awhile," he muttered. "You've got guts kid, I'll give you that. But I'd advise you to tell her what she wants to know soon if you plan on keeping them." Then he left as well leaving Naruto by himself.

* * *

Lady Fuura was waiting for him outside the door. "What'll we do with him for now?" Kira asked.

"For now I think we'll keep it a secret that we've managed to capture him."

"Any reason reason in particular?"

"I don't trust that man. He may have come to us for an alliance but he's keeping way too many secrets to himself."

"Might I ask how that particular shinobi fits into this?"

"Apparently he has some kind of special power or so I've been told."

"What could it be possibly? I mean other than his shinobi abilities, there doesn't seem to be anything else unusual about him. Certainly nothing that would be a threat to us in any case."

Lady Fuura nodded. "He doesn't appear to be particularly special at first glance but I did sense something unusual about him."

This perked Kira's interest. Out of all of them, Lady Fuura had always been the best at being able to sense the unusual powers people emitted. "Like what exactly?"

"I can't really describe it very well, but whatever it was it felt extremely foul and corrupt. But one look at him tells me he's obviously not the kind of person to give off a feeling like that."

"Are you sure you didn't imagine it?" Lady Fuura shot him a look that caused him to back away and throw his hands up in surrender. "Just kidding."

"Anyways until I know more about that man's true intentions I'm not going to risk handling over something that could possibly be later used against us."

"And if it does turn out that there's something about him that could be a threat to us does that mean we'll kill him?"

Lady Fuura grinned, "Of course."

* * *

Takeru slowly trudged down the hallway towards Sister Seishuu's room. Kou was already on his way home after calling his father and explaining to him what happened. As she got closer to the room, Ayaka popped her head out the door way.

"There you are! Where were you?" she said as she ran out and grabbed onto Takeru's arm to pull her into the room. "I've been waiting here for over half an hour. I was about to go and try to find you." It was then that she noticed Kou's absence. "Hold on, where's Kou? Wasn't he with you?"

"Kou went home to check and see if Naruto's there," Takeru explained while trying her best not to look too worried.

Ayaka blinked, "Why? Wasn't he in his room?"

Takeru shook her head, "No one's there, so we're checking to see if Kou's dad picked him up already."

Ayaka seemed to deflate a bit. "Oh well I hope nothing happened to him," she said in a worried tone.

Takeru managed a reassuring smile. "Don't worry I'm sure he's alright. So how's Sister Seishuu doing?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"The doctor that was here said she's stabilized and she should make a full recovery. But she hasn't regained consciousness yet."

Takeru let out a sigh of relief. "Still I'm glad to know she's going to be alright."

"But it's kind of strange isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well the doctor said it looked like she was attacked by a large animal like a bear," Ayaka said with a thoughtful look. "But I thought there weren't any more bears living the woods near your village. And then there's the fact that the temple caught on fire…" she trailed off here.

"Well maybe there are still a few left and we just haven't seen them yet," Takeru quickly lied. "I mean the forests go on for dozens of kilometers all around the village so it's not that hard to imagine if you think about it. Anyways I think it was probably the burglars that caused the fire."

"Oh yeah! That's right you were robbed that day too. First a bear and then burglars, wow yesterday definitely wasn't a lucky day for your family was it Takeru?"

"No it wasn't." Inwardly Takeru cringed as she thought of the number of lies she had been forced to tell lately. _I hope Buddha doesn't punish me for this._ Glancing up at Ayaka who was smiling innocently she added, _still when I look at her I can't help but wonder if Buddha ever punishes anyone._

"Hm? Is something wrong?"

"Oh! I… umm… no everything's fine. But I think I'll be heading back now too, I'm going to check and see if Naruto's at his apartment since Kou doesn't know the way there. Will you be fine leaving by yourself?"

"Yeah sure no problem but are you sure you're okay with just leaving like this? I mean didn't you come here to seeing Sister Seishuu too?"

"I'll be back to see her soon, but I wanted to check Naruto's apartment while it's still light out. After what happened yesterday I don't want to be outside at night if I can't help it," she said in a hushed voice.

Ayaka gave her a sympathetic look. "I understand, I think I'll stay a little bit longer but I'll be find getting home by myself so don't worry."

Takeru thanked Ayaka before giving her the bouquet of flowers she had meant to give to Sister Seishuu. As soon as it left her hands, she took off. "Honestly what's with those two?" said Ayaka as she watch Takeru disappear down the stairs. Shaking her head, she stepped back into the room.

* * *

In his cell, Naruto plopped down onto the bed behind him completely exhausted. Over the last hour, he had made many more attempts at breaking out but each time the device quickly absorbed all the chakra he was putting into his jutsu. It didn't seem to matter how much or how little he used either, the result was still the same.

Naruto struggled to get back up but already it felt as if his body had reached its limit. It seemed that in addition to using too much chakra he was also still feeling some of the effects from the drug that doctor had injected him with. _What am I going to do?_ He thought as he nodded off.

"**Get up brat,**" A loud voice suddenly boomed.

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar sewer in front of a familiar cage. On the front of the cage was a piece of paper with the word 'seal' written in kanji on it.

"What do you want fox?!" Naruto demanded.

Inside his cage, the Kyubi glared down at his host. "**Still not showing me the respect I deserve?**"

"Respect?! Why should I show you any respect?! All you've ever done is ruin my life!"

"**You should be grateful brat! You'd be dead by now if it weren't for me!**" the Kyubi roared.

Naruto folded his arms over his chest and glared. "As if, you're only looking out for yourself. So what is it you want?"

"**I think it should be obvious even for a simpleton like you. Right now you're trapped in a cell thanks to those demons and I'm here to lend you a helping hand.**"

"And why should I trust you?" Naruto asked warily. "You're a demon too right? So what would make you want to go against your own kind?"

"**Because even if they learned of my existence there's no guarantee they'd spare you and as long as I'm sealed inside of you if you die, I die. I'm not about to allow myself to be killed by just any worthless, puny demon because of my worthless, puny host.**"

"So now I'm a worthless, puny host huh? In that case, why should I even bother?"

"**Because if you don't, you won't be able to help your friends. After all you're not the one they're after now are you?**"

Naruto gritted his teeth at the fox's remark. As much as he hated to admit it, Kyubi did have a point. "Still how could you possibly help?"

"**That device might be able to absorb your chakra but I doubt it can hold mine. I'll simply lend you enough of my power to break free.**"

"No way! The last time I used your power, you tried to take over my body and my sensei almost died because of it! I'd rather take my chances getting out of here on my own."

Kyubi chuckled, "**Who said I was giving you a choice?**"

All of the sudden swirling strands of red chakra started seeping out of the cage and through the water before wrapping around Naruto who had already started backing away. "What the hell do you think you're doing fox!? Stop it I told you I'll get out of here by myself!" he yelled as he tried to force the chakra back into the cage with his will. However today the Kyubi was in no mood to back down.

Outside Naruto's eyes flew open as his body slowly became enveloped in the red chakra seeping out from it. His eyes had changed from blue to a deep red with black narrow irises while his whisker marks became thicker and more pronounced. His fingernails and teeth were also growing into claws and fangs. Finally the red chakra took on the outline of a fox around his entire body with a single tail sticking out.

_Damn that fox. If any innocent people get hurt I swear I'll kill him myself,_ Naruto swore to himself. Already the device on his wrists was overheating and giving off sparks as it tried to contain the massive amount of chakra now coursing through his body. It wasn't long before the device shattered and exploded falling to the floor in a flaming heap. Reaching one hand back, Naruto swung forward sending out a huge claw made of chakra that sent the cell door flying across the hall and into the wall. Stepping out of his cell he made for the door when he heard an alarm going off.

* * *

From all the way in her private chambers, Lady Fuura felt a sudden surge of power followed by a loud crashing noise. Almost immediately afterwards the alarm sounded throughout the building. _This power feels like a demon's but who's is it? _Concentrating on her senses, she was able to pick up on the power more clearly and traced it back to the holding cells where it seemed to be originating from. _But that's impossible! The only one down there right now is that human! There's no way he could…_ It was then she remembered what that man had told her. _Could this be that power that he was talking about?_ _But how is that even possible? Just what is he!?_

**Author's Note:** Sorry if the wait seemed long but with the holidays and everything I've been busy. For those of you who might be wondering the name Mrs. Hitomo is one I came up with for my story and is not related to the manga in any way. They never gave out the name of the regular librarian since I doubt it was that NSWF agent.

Anyways thanks for all the reviews! I'm also glad to see that people are enjoying the rewrite of my first Naruto/Witchblade story.


	7. Update

This is something I really don't want to have to say but I feel it must be said anyways. After giving it much thought and debate, I've decided to put both of my stories up for adoption. The reason why isn't because of I hate them or anything but simply because lately I haven't had the time or the energy to write anymore. I recently have gone back to college and between that and work I'm already writing so much I'm surprise my fingers haven't fallen off yet.

Anyways I probably could get back to working on them eventually but at this point I honestly don't know how long that would be and I'm sure a lot of you readers don't want to wait that long if possible. Therefore putting them up for adoption seems like the best idea to me.

Now even though I'm planning to put them up for adoption, I don't want my stories to go to waste nor do I want to hand them over to just anyone. Therefore I do have a few requirements for anyone who wants to take them.

**No godly/Super/Invincible/Overpowered Naruto –** While I've always considered Naruto to be very strong, I can't stand the idea of him being ridiculously overpowered to the point where nothing presents a challenge to him or where he gets all the fame and glory while everyone else sits on the sidelines. To me nothing ruins a good Naruto crossover more than that. So naturally there's no way I'd allow him to end up like that in one of my stories.

**The writer must have at least some experience writing fanfiction –** Specifically, any authors that want to adopt my stories must have posted at least one story on this site even if they haven't finished it.

**The writer must have seen the Witchblade anime or read the Witchblade manga –** Depending on which story they want to adopt, they need to have seen the anime or read the manga.

That's it for the requirements. If anyone wants to adopt either of these stories let me know through a pm or review. Again I apologize for this but I feel it's the best decision I can make right now. I do have some other ideas for Naruto crossovers that I may attempt in the future when I have more free time on my hands.


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